Seven BSMHFT nurses were on board a specialist bus giving over 400 Wolverhampton residents free liver screenings recently.
Driving to a number of locations, the ‘Liver Bus’ idea was developed by The British Liver Trust and co-led by Recovery Near You, a Wolverhampton-based substance misuse support service and one of our partners.
Spanning five days, the liver bus made a pit-stop at Victoria Street before heading to Queen’s Square where hordes of residents queued for up to three hours to get scanned by the dedicated team of nurses. Using a Fibro scanner, the nurses looked for 10-30 minutes per person to find any traces of fatty liver or liver scarring, something that can be an indication of alcohol misuse.
Wolverhampton has more than twice the number of premature deaths from liver disease than the rest of England. Recovery Near You, City of Wolverhampton Council and the Service User Involvement Team (SUIT) all joined together to champion The British Liver Trust’s ‘love your liver’ campaign, which aims to help educate residents about the dangers of alcohol.
Those who had concerning scans on the bus were referred to The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust‘s liver specialists for further tests. In total the team successfully scanned 404 residents. The Recovery Near You team also pledged to deliver substance misuse training sessions at two local gurdwara temples later this year as part of their campaign.
Emily Dalloway, Senior Health and Wellbeing Nurse for BSMHFT said:
“It was so nice to see how many people engaged with us. The event was a huge success, and we have hopefully helped to educate many residents on the dangers of alcohol misuse and where to get the help should they need it.”
If you or someone you love is struggling with alcohol addiction, get in touch with Recovery Near You. Free confidential phone calls or chat bot services are available today at www.recoverynearyou.org.uk.
Published: 7 August 2023
