23/04/2025
Our new community service in Oval is helping patients receive faster, potentially life-changing liver scans closer to home. 🏘️
The pilot scheme in the Liver Care Service offers people with signs of liver disease a quick and convenient scan, known as a Fibroscan, without the need to wait for a hospital appointment.
Following a Fibroscan, patients results are analysed by a multi-disciplinary team made up of liver specialists from Guy’s and St Thomas’ and a Lambeth GP. It's estimated that around half of patients can have their follow-up appointments in a community setting rather than at St Thomas’ Hospital. This has been made possible by Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity
Jonathan Presky, a clinical nurse specialist who carries out the scans at the GP surgery, said: “The aim is to try to catch people and to identify problems before they become bigger problems. You can be seen very quickly.
“If there aren't any problems we can say, ‘Don't worry about it’. But if there is, we can move things along quicker.
“As we manage to reduce the waiting list at Guy's and St Thomas' we should be able to get people who need to see a specialist more thoroughly to come to hospital sooner.”
Terry Wong, consultant hepatologist and the project lead, said: “For many patients being able to access this service in a GP practice is much more convenient.
“It also means that we can work in partnership with GP colleagues to make a real difference, as we detect, intervene and improve the liver health of the local population.”
Next, the team hopes to expand the service to cover the whole of Lambeth. 💙
