Royal Cornwall adopts digital tool to help identify liver disease risk

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) is using a new digital tool to help find people who may be at risk of liver disease, potentially before symptoms appear.

The hepatoSIGHT system, created by Predictive Health Intelligence, is now being used by doctors at the trust to support preventative care and earlier diagnosis. It works by securely analysing patterns in historic blood test results that are already held within NHS systems.

The system helps doctors look for patterns that may suggest someone could benefit from further checks of their liver health. These patterns are often hidden in routine blood test results and may not be obvious during standard care.

Liz Farrington, consultant nurse in hepatology at RCHT, said: “Working with innovative digital tools like hepatoSIGHT helps us find people who might otherwise be diagnosed too late.

“Evidence from our NHS partners shows that earlier identification can genuinely change lives, and we are proud to be bringing this approach to patients in Cornwall.”

The technology was created in partnership with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, where it has been used in clinical practice for several years.

During this time, clinicians have used hepatoSIGHT to identify people earlier and intervene sooner, helping to help improve outcomes for hundreds of patients who may otherwise have been diagnosed too late.

Liver disease is a major public health issue in England. More than 11,000 people die from liver disease each year, and death rates have increased by around 400% since 1970. At least one in nine UK adults is thought to have some form of liver disease.

Often there are no symptoms until the disease is advanced, when treatment options are more limited. However, if liver disease is found early, there are effective treatments and changes that can prevent serious illness.

Dr Tim Jobson, medical director of Predictive Health Intelligence and consultant gastroenterologist at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am an NHS doctor, and for years I was frustrated by seeing patients with liver disease when it was already too late for effective treatment.

“The data to spot risk earlier was often already there, but we did not have a practical way to use it at scale. hepatoSIGHT was created to change that.

“It helps NHS teams use existing blood test data to find people earlier, when we can still intervene, prevent harm and in many cases avoid serious disease altogether.”

Earlier this year researchers reported that almost 1,000 participants had been recruited to a liver disease study in less than a year to evaluate a new approach to identifying people at risk of metabolic liver disease by using the hepatoSIGHT case-finding software.

It is being delivered in partnership with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which supported clinical oversight and research delivery,  Tawazun Health, which does liver ultrasound tests, Sano Genetics, and Innovate UK.

Recruitment and engagement performance highlights included 1,300 unique visitors to the study landing page and a 95% engagement rate.