Support groups
This year we have 66 support group meetings scheduled across Scotland.
Patient support groups provide an opportunity to share experiences and offer one another practical as well as emotional support. Attending a support group helps both patients and family members to feel less lonely and isolated and gives attendees confidence to better manage their condition. Support groups empower patients to ask the right questions of their doctors and nurses to make sure they are getting the right treatment and care.
Full details on each group can be found here
Details of upcoming events in Scotland can also be found on our Scotland Facebook group: search Scotland Support Groups British Liver Trust.
Amended patient support during COVID 19 restrictions
We have adapted our patient support offering during the developing COVID 19 situation. As we cannot currently run face to face support groups we have had to change the way we are providing support and are now offering virtual support online.
- We will continue to communicate information, offer support & encourage conversation between patients and family members on our Scotland Facebook group which can be found by searching for “Scotland support groups British Liver Trust”
- We will be offering virtual support groups online via Zoom. These meetings are to replace the face to face groups. These zoom meetings include a weekly transplant zoom co-facilitated by the liver transplant unit in Edinburgh, genetic/ autoimmune groups, regional groups and carer support meetings.
Locations of Scottish support groups
We run general liver health support groups in:
- Aberdeen
- Ayr
- Dundee
- Edinburgh
- Forth Valley
- Inverness
We run condition-specific groups in the following locations:
- Edinburgh: genetic liver conditions
- Edinburgh: Hepatitis C
- Edinburgh: pre-and post-transplant patients
- Glasgow: Hepatitis C
- Glasgow: genetic liver conditions
- Glasgow: pre-and post-transplant patients
- Renfrewshire: pre & Post-transplant patients
Our work with healthcare professionals
We are joining up existing services, and providing support for liver patients where none existed before. Over the last three years we have created a ‘community of support’ for liver patients by working with hepatologists and liver nurses in liver units across Scotland.
Our patient information publications (https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/publications/) are widely used by clinicians across the country, and in partnership with the RCGP, we have produced a toolkit to support GPs in their quest for early diagnosis of liver disease in a primary care setting.
GPs across Scotland can access the toolkit here: https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/health-professionals/our-work-with-primary-care/#toolkit
Scotland Love Your Liver Roadshow and community events
Each year, we deliver a public awareness roadshow, touring Scotland in our mobile unit.
We take our Mobile Scanning Unit to locations across Scotland, offering members of the public a liver health screener, a free liver scan, a consultation with a liver expert, and free health publications.
Love Your Liver events screen and scan around 100 people a day, and typically 17%-20% of people have indications of liver damage, and were unaware. The campaign reaches thousands through the media, and also raises the profile of our patient support services. All Love Your Liver events are supported by liver consultants and nurses from local hospitals.
Our next roadshow in Scotland will take place in September 2019, and will include visits to Inverness and Dumfries for the first time.
Get in Touch
We’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch and email amy.caffrey@britishlivertrust.org.uk if you:
- would like further information about our work in Scotland
- want to attend a support group
- want to join our network of HCP collaboration
- are aware of initiatives in Scotland that you think we should be involved with
For fundraising enquiries please contact louise.crook@britishlivertrust.org.uk
