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Introduction Hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence is approximately 10 times higher in prisons than in the general population due to drug-related crime being a common reason for incarceration. Approximately two thirds of new receptions to UK prisons have a history of active injection drug use in the previous year. Universal opt-out testing for HCV is therefore widely practiced in prisons to identify those with active HCV, and to offer treatment. The goal of the WHO is to eliminate HCV (defined as incidence <2/100 people who inject drugs or <5/100,000 in the general population, annually). Data from multiple sources will be required to prove elimination. HCV detection rates at prison reception are a good indicator of HCV incidence in people who inject drugs. Our aim was to evaluate the detection rates at reception in NE England Prisons to assess progress towards elimination.Methods Data was collected prospectively in three prisons (Durham, Low Newton and Northumberland). Testing numbers, HCV antibody (Ab) positivity and RNA positivity were evaluated between 2017 and 2025. Regression models were applied to assess trends in HCV detection.Results Across 8 years, 44,526 screening tests on prison reception were recorded. Between July 2022-June 2025 the median age of individuals tested for HCV was 37 years (range 18-95), and the majority were male (87.6%; n=21,142).Table 1 shows HCV Ab, and RNA positivity and the RNA/Ab positivity ratio by year. Overall, HCV RNA positivity rate has fallen significantly from 9.3% to 3.8% (p<0.001; average 12.1% decline per year). A significant fall in the HCV RNA/antibody ratio was also observed from 44.1% to 16% (p=0.005, average 10.8% decline per year).Conclusions Overall the proportion of HCV RNA positive tests at reception to North East England Prisons has fallen significantly over the last 8 years, indicating good progress towards HCV elimination.Abstract P69 Table 1Screening and detection rates for HCV in NE prisons (July 2017-June 2025)2017-182018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232023-242024-25Screening tests (n)38864345438929724802945677136963HCV-Ab positive (n)824110211428621065163717211650HCV-RNA positive (n)363420384248298578390264HCV-Ab positivity (%)21.225.426.029.022.217.322.323.7HCV RNA positivity (%)9.39.78.78.36.26.15.13.8HCV RNA/antibody (%)44.138.133.628.828.035.322.716.0