A CALL has been issued for Warrington to become a regional transplant hub covering the whole of the north west.

Warrington South MP Andy Carter made the suggestion in Westminster in a bid to tackle regional disparities in what he called a ‘big killer’.

It came during a debate in which he raised concerns over a lack of a liver transplant facilities in the region, resulting in patients travelling many hours to access care elsewhere in the UK.

The MP says the hub could be incorporated and strengthen a bid for funding to build a new hospital in Warrington.

He said: “Regional disparities are affecting not only constituents in Warrington, but also in towns and cities like Blackpool, Manchester and Liverpool.

“These are major centres in the north west of England, which I think are woefully underserved in terms of transplant facilities for tackling liver disease and liver cancer.

“All of those aforementioned areas of the north west record some of the highest rates of liver disease mortality, with the most recent statistics showing deaths, the highest of any region in England.”

The debate heard how the ‘critical issue’ for the north west is the lack of liver transplant facilities.

“There is not a unit that does it, and patients are routinely travelling to Birmingham, Leeds and further afield to be assessed,” Mr Carter continued.

“That is no service for an area covering 7.3million people and major cities.

“My constituents are also disadvantaged as they are having to spend a lot of their own money travelling to these centres to be able to get clinical guidance in a way that other areas are not.

“In Warrington alone, 51 lives were lost due to liver disease in 2020, and our town’s diagnosis, hospital admissions and premature deaths far exceed the national average.”

He added: “Warrington is one of those areas bidding for funding to secure a new hospital, and I would say Warrington is a great place to have a regional transplant facility for the north west of England.”