RVH Liver Support Group

24/10/2026

We were delighted to host our first Carers' Breakfast at Fortwilliam Golf Club, Belfast today. After a very tasty fried breakfast, our speaker was Margaret McDonald, Belfast Trust's Team Lead in Carers Support Services. She provided lots of useful advice for care givers, all of which applies across all Health Trusts in the Province.

Look out for details of our next Carer's Breakfast once it's arranged.

17/10/2026

This time next Saturday our Carers' Breakfast will be well underway at Fortwilliam Golf Club. We still have a few places available so if you would like to attend please email us on [email protected]

On Saturday 24th October we will be hosting our first ever Carers’ Breakfast at Fortwilliam Golf Club from 10am to 12.30pm.

This is an opportunity specifically for partners or caregivers to come together and enjoy a free breakfast and meet other people in the same position.

We will be joined on the day by Margaret McDonald who is the Carers’ Co-ordinator for the Belfast Trust. Margaret will speak about the support that she and her colleagues in other Trusts can provide. She will also be able to signpost you towards any additional help and support that you may require.

You must RSVP for this event along with any dietary requirements for catering purposes by Wednesday 21st October. This event is first come, first served as a limited number of spaces are available.

14/10/2026

🏔🏔🏔🏔🏔

Danny Maguire is setting off to Nepal next week to trek to Everest Base Camp while raising money for the Liver Support Group!

We are so grateful that Danny is taking on such a mammoth adventure for us and we wish him all the best on his journey.

You can donate to Danny's fundraising using the link below and feel free to drop him some good wishes in the comments!

https://www.justgiving.com/page/dannyeverestbasecamp?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=WA&fbclid=IwdGRjcAUYz_ZjbGNrBRjP8XBkb2YBZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeKnjUUIKFFIJAORf5BTexYNhVK8HTcQQSNw2yXzsbukQ5RSYmQ12yCyosKV8_aem_pku7ZjhZSftek9gHiz2w2A

Help raise money to support RVH Liver Support Group

13/10/2026

To coincide with our annual visit to King's College Hospital to keep abreast of anything which might affect our patients, we were absolutely delighted this year to facilitate seven Liver Unit staff joining us, none of whom had been to King's previously.

This allowed them to meet their King's counterparts, and to join them in liver outpatients clinics, both pre and post transplant ward rounds, to discuss matters of interest and common practice with coordinators, consultants, pharmacists, even a tour of the liver transplant operating theatre.

We sincerely thank everyone at King's for the warmth of their welcome to everyone, and their unwavering support of the entire Belfast team.

10/10/2026

On Saturday 24th October we will be hosting our first ever Carers’ Breakfast at Fortwilliam Golf Club from 10am to 12.30pm.

This is an opportunity specifically for partners or caregivers to come together and enjoy a free breakfast and meet other people in the same position.

We will be joined on the day by Margaret McDonald who is the Carers’ Co-ordinator for the Belfast Trust. Margaret will speak about the support that she and her colleagues in other Trusts can provide. She will also be able to signpost you towards any additional help and support that you may require.

You must RSVP for this event along with any dietary requirements for catering purposes by Wednesday 21st October. This event is first come, first served as a limited number of spaces are available.

10/10/2026

we hope to see you this Tuesday (13th October) at the Tullyglass Hotel in Ballymena from 10am to 12.30pm.

📆 2026 dates for your diary!

We have lots of events coming up for all of our members this year. Remember that our coffee mornings, members' meetings and other events are open to everyone whether you are pre- or post-transplant or have another condition which is under hepatology care but does not require a transplant.

Our Coffee Mornings are listed below but make sure you also add the following dates to your calendars...
📆 Thursday 19th March - Group AGM (will be held online)
📆 Thursday 16th April - Members' Meeting - The Mount Conference Centre, Belfast
📆 Sunday 3rd May - Belfast City Marathon
📆 Sunday 14th June - Members' Lunch - Tullyglass Hotel, Ballymena
📆21st - 27th September - Organ Donation Week

Dates for additional events will be added during the year including Walk and Talks and an autumn Members' Meeting. Booking for Members' Meetings and the Lunch is not currently open - we will be in touch closer to the time with more details.

09/10/2026

Congratulations to the Councillors in Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council on backing a campaign to help raise awareness about liver health within the Borough. The proposal came from Cllr. Mark Cooper BEM and Cllr. Paul Dunlop BEM.

https://www.northernirelandworld.com/news/people/antrim-and-newtownabbey-council-told-earlier-conversations-about-liver-health-can-make-a-real-difference-as-it-backs-campaign-9272465?fbclid=IwY2xjawU2FPJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mA3NydGMGYXBwX2lkDzQwOTk2MjYyMzA4NTYwOQABHhrpn3IumO_NmNnMAXXnRE1WEpTOFz-tQtRbqE3RNBcuCJOgnGvwC-Qlv46b_aem_LgfiL3iuFAVydAOzKpcbeA

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council has agreed to back a campaign to help raise awareness of liver disease.

09/10/2026

We were delighted last night to welcome a large number of members and family friends to our Autumn Members' Meeting to hear presentations from Jemma Mears and Lindsay Hogg from Birmingham Children's Hospital, talking about the care of our young children who are treated by them in Birmingham.

They were followed by Dr Roger McCorry, who provided an update on new drugs coming to the market to help in treating MASLD/MASH, and the work being done by Jess Brown in the Fatty Liver Clinic.

Finally, we also heard from Dr Johnny Cash about the beginning this month of a new Virtual Ward pilot project, aimed at providing hospital-level care for some patients when they are at home, rather than occupying a bed in the hospital. This is aimed at reducing waits for beds while still ensuring the patient is monitored to the same level as if they were in a Ward. There are exciting possibilities ahead, using new technology, which will reduce staff workload while also saving considerable expenditure for all the Trusts in Northern Ireland.

06/10/2026

03/10/2026

Understanding Life After Transplant: Call for participants

Organ transplantation saves lives. However, people’s experiences of quality of life and healthcare after transplant are not well understood.

To help understand more about experiences of life after transplant, a research team at Newcastle University have developed three surveys. These allow people to report on their quality of life, symptoms, and healthcare experiences after transplant.

This research is part of the Newcastle and Cambridge NIHR/NHSBT Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Organ Donation and Transplantation (http://odt.btru.nihr.ac.uk/theme-6/)

They need people to help test the surveys to make sure they work the way they are intended. There are multiple ways you can get involved to help.

If you live in the United Kingdom, are aged 18 years or older and have received a solid organ (heart, lung, kidney, liver, pancreas) transplant 12 months ago or more, the research team at Newcastle University want to hear from you.

You can choose to be involved in one or both of the opportunities detailed below.
For more information on what is involved in taking part, please take the time to read the attached participant information sheets.

If you have any questions or would like to talk with the study team, please email Ben Rimmer on: [email protected]

1. Quality of Life/Symptoms After Transplant Surveys – Online testing

Help the team understand how the surveys work in practice.

For more information, please visit: Quality of life after transplant surveys pilot test
To access the Quality of Life After Transplant survey, please follow this link: https://newcastlehealth.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zYXJ6mXCyHQNp4

To access the Quality of Life After Transplant – Symptoms survey, please follow this link: https://newcastlehealth.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_elmyjg4bjkyOtEO

2. Healthcare Experiences After Transplant Survey - Interview

Help the team check whether the survey questions are relevant, easy to understand, and cover all necessary aspects of healthcare experience.
If you are interested, please complete the expression of interest form: https://forms.office.com/e/5e5aL4eruR