The philosophy of ToRcH-UK is to deliver projects that address common clinical problems, which makes the outputs widely relevant to general hepatology and gastroenterology services across the UK. Our projects are complementary to work being done by BASL/BSG and often focus on assessing the standard of care in relation to national guidelines and improvement initiatives such as care bundles. Though national projects with patient-level granularity, we can provide useful insights that are not achievable through national registries and datasets. We have an interest in understanding the impact of health inequalities and the geographical structure of liver services on health outcomes. Anonymised data will be shared as appropriate with individual hospital sites and regional NHS leaders to guide service development, and collaboratively to support future research. Our overarching aim is to help secure the future of hepatology and improve outcomes for patients. Future ambitions include prospectively designed research, patient involvement and international collaboration.

Project proposals will be voted for by our network, with submissions from regional trainee networks encouraged. Selected projects will be delivered by a project management group (PMG), with oversight from a group of senior clinicians/academics.  There will also be a committee comprised of current and past PMG members to retain experience and cultivate mentorship. The PMG is responsible for creating, driving and delivering individual projects; whereas the committee is important for maintaining oversight, helping  with project delivery, as well as ensuring the sustainability and growth of the whole organisation. Therefore, this model preserves the essence of ToRcH-UK whilst providing enough structure to survive and grow.