New digital system helps Bristol NHS Group doctors spot hidden liver disease risk

Bristol NHS Group has begun using a new digital tool to help find people who may be at risk of liver disease earlier, potentially before symptoms appear. 

The system, called hepatoSIGHT, is now being used by NHS doctors at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) and North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) to support preventative care and earlier diagnosis of liver disease.

It works by securely analysing patterns in historic blood test results that are already held within NHS systems, and importantly, the data does not leave the NHS.

hepatoSIGHT is helping doctors in Gastroenterology and Hepatology departments at Bristol Royal Infirmary, Weston General Hospital and Southmead Hospital to 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.

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 change the lives of hundreds of patients who may otherwise have been diagnosed too late.

Dr Kushala Abeysekera, Consultant Hepatologist at UHBW and Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol, said: “We are excited to be able to use hepatoSIGHT in Bristol and Weston.

“Across the UK, we are finding liver disease too late, when patients already have experience complications.

“Tools like hepatoSIGHT will give us the opportunity to identify and treat patients at high risk of advanced liver disease before they come to harm.”

Dr Ankur Srivastava, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist and Clinical Lead at NBT, said: “‘In the liver community, we recognise one important strategy to tackle the rising burden of chronic liver disease is earlier detection.

“Bringing hepatoSIGHT to Bristol allows us to identify patients at risk and with chronic liver disease earlier and offer opportunities to treat liver conditions earlier. This can only be a good thing.

“We can also use it to our advantage for other uses such as identifying patients for research”.

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 percent since 1970.

Many people think liver disease only affects those who drink too much alcohol. This is not true. Liver disease can also be caused by genetic conditions, autoimmune disease, and metabolic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

In most cases, liver disease develops slowly over many years or even decades and can progress from mild disease to cirrhosis or liver cancer. 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.

hepatoSIGHT does not make a diagnosis. It supports clinicians by helping them decide who to invite for simple follow-up tests, so care can be offered earlier where it may be needed most.

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.

“hepatoSIGHT 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.”