The South West Liver Unit

Welcome to the South West Liver Unit (SWLU) website

The South West Liver Unit (SWLU) was established in 2010 and is part of University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHPNT). This is the largest hospital trust in the South West Peninsula and is a University Teaching Hospital. 

Currently the SWLU is a large Hepatology unit that provides patient focussed services to approximately 2 million people across the local and wider population of the South West region. Our team of specialists deliver hepatology, hepatobiliary surgery and liver transplantation services. The unit currently assesses patients for liver transplantation from the region and looks after their post-operative care. The SWLU has strong links with the Liver unit at Kings College Hospital London and continues to work towards becoming a liver transplant centre.

The SWLU has an active clinical research programme in association with the University of Plymouth Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and a dynamic clinical trials program. There is an active undergraduate teaching programme and postgraduate training program, including liver National Training Number placements.

The SWLU was the first unit to register with the Improving Quality in Liver Services (IQILS) scheme and gained full accreditation in early 2022, acknowledging the high quality of care delivered by our service. Our patients are integral to our success and we are grateful to the patients that donate their time to help develop our services and encourage people to join the South West Liver Buddies.

This website provides information about our facilities, services and performance. It has an evolving number of resources for patient education, links to external resources and information for our referring clinicians and partners.