Posted: 18-Aug-2006 << BACK
'Postcode lottery' for disease victims Aug 17 2006
By Rob Merrick, Daily Post
A "POSTCODE lottery" facing thousands of Merseyside and Cheshire victims of a virus that causes chronic liver disease has been condemned by MPs.
Several primary care trusts (PCTs) in Wirral and Warrington were praised for implementing an action plan to tackle the growing threat from hepatitis C. But other PCTs, including those covering Southport and St Helens, were accused of doing little or nothing to implement Department of Health guidelines. The MPs also expressed suspicion that PCTs that failed to respond to their inquiry, including those in Liverpool and Knowsley, probably had very poor services.
If untreated, the hepatitis C virus - most often spread through sharing needles to inject drugs - can cause cirrhosis, liver failure, or liver cancer. At least 200,000 people countrywide are thought to be infected, but the virus can go undetected for years because it often produces no early symptoms.
The all-party hepatology group of MPs sent a questionnaire to every PCT, asking what information it had on the scale of its hepatitis C problem and what services it offered.
The 63% that responded were then ranked on their responses, with a score of three or fewer points designating a PCT that "has not done nearly enough". Between four and seven meant the action plan had been partly applied, while any PCT that had made "significant progress" scored eight or higher.
Across Merseyside and Cheshire, PCTs in Bebington & West Wirral (9), Birkenhead & Wallasey (9) and Warrington (8) all scored very highly.
But Ellesmere Port & Neston and Cheshire West scored just three, while Southport & Formby and St Helens were given the lowest score - just one.
None of the three Liverpool PCTs, South Liverpool, Central Liverpool and North Liverpool, responded to the inquiry. Nor did Knowsley or South Sefton.
The report noted that PCTs which had few services to describe would have found it more time-consuming to fill in the questionnaire.
And it concluded: "There must be the suspicion that it is precisely those trusts that have done the least to implement the action plan that are the most likely not to have responded."
The report demands a more detailed government strategy, a single leader to oversee it, and more effort to raise awareness and improving testing.
It also calls for specialist centres to be set up, as they have been in France, Germany and Italy, to provide diagnosis and treatment.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said awareness campaigns and the action plan were having an impact, as more people were being diagnosed.
