How we're improving outcomes for people living with Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is the most common chronic viral infection worldwide, and there is currently no cure. Without effective treatment there is up to a 25% chance of people living with chronic hepatitis B developing liver cancer. People with hepatitis B may not have obvious symptoms, so it is unlikely to be detected early without proactively testing for it.
 
Our dedicated Gastroenterology and Hepatology team have been looking for new ways to support their patients, identify people who may be unaware they are living with hepatitis B and get them the treatment they need.
 
First, since the end of 2024 the Trust has been part of a centrally-funded pilot for opt-out blood testing for patients coming through our Emergency Department, during which time we’ve doubled the number of people we’ve diagnosed with hepatitis B. Through identifying them, the team are now able to get these patients the treatment they need to reduce the risk of it developing into cancer in the future. And the national funding for this work has just been extended for another three years, allowing us to support even more people in the future.
 
And the team are striving further still, with a recently-published study in the medical journal Frontline Gastroenterology where they have looked back at nearly 700 patients treated at the Trust for hepatitis B over a 10-year period. They have been able to show, that by following international guidelines for testing criteria, patient outcomes improve – both in terms of lives saved, as well as quality of life.
 
By taking a proactive approach to identifying people with hepatitis B, the team can see that in their patient cohort alone, we likely have 12 people alive today who would not have been without diagnosis and treatment. And alongside this the study also shows that rather than concerns that actively seeking out patients to treat would be unsustainable from a cost perspective, it is in fact cost saving as early detection prevents people from going on to need other, more extensive treatments. 
 
Dr Ricky Sinharay, Gastroenterology Consultant and study lead said, “As a team, we’re invested in the wellbeing of our patients, and that extends to identifying people who do not even know they have hepatitis B yet. Though our opt-out work in our Emergency Department, and now through this research study we are continuously working to improve patient outcomes in a sustainable way.
 
“We hope that the results of this study will act as an encouragement to other clinicians, in the UK and globally, to look for ways to identify more patients early, safe in the knowledge that you will be able to save lives, save people from going through cancer treatment, and save your healthcare systems from the impact of more costly treatment needed further down the line. Across the UK 270,000 people have a current diagnosis of Hepatitis B, the benefits we’ve shown through our work are just the tip of the iceberg of what we can collectively achieve.”
 
Dr James Kennedy, Gastroenterology Registrar and Academic Research Fellow, first author on the paper added: "Our latest study shows expanding treatment for chronic hepatitis B is "win-win", and should be practice-changing and a call to action to departments looking after people living with chronic hepatitis B across the UK. We are really proud of what this RBFT-led project has achieved, and it is another example of how the Trust is an environment in which research and innovation can thrive."