Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the NHS's policy is on prescribing gluten-free food items to coeliacs; and whether any changes have recently been made to the allowance for such items.

Gluten-free foods are available on National Health Service prescription to patients with established gluten-sensitive enteropathies. The Department provides general practitioners (GPs) and other prescribers with a list of recommended gluten-free products to help patients, including those with coeliac disease, to manage their condition but does not issue guidance on the number of units that should be prescribed.

Prescribing decisions are a matter for GPs and other prescribers. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) set local guidelines on the number of units to be prescribed for their patients, depending upon age, sex and individual clinical circumstances. A national charity – Coeliac UK – publishes guidelines on the dietary requirements for coeliac patients which can help inform CCG local decisions.

GPs should always satisfy themselves that the medicines or other substances they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and that patients are adequately monitored.