The Department of Health consultation into the future of gluten free prescribing in England asks for feedback from patients and representatives by midday 22 June and we have completed our response.
We are fighting to save this service which is under the biggest threat it has ever faced in England. We want policy makers to consider the needs of all patients, not just those who have the economic and physical means to shop in large supermarkets.
The consultation includes three different options, including:
1. removing gluten free food from the list of products that GPs are able to prescribe to patients
2. restricting the types of products that can be prescribed
3. continuing with the current system, unchanged.
For many people, the constant need to manage the gluten free diet, and its associated complications around cost and availability, means relying on prescriptions to prevent damaging their health.
Our consultation response sets out evidence based arguments in support of prescriptions, particularly for the most vulnerable. You can read it here.
We hope this will give some context, so that if this is an issue that affects you or your household, then you too can send your response.
This consultation affects England only but for our members in the rest of the UK we wanted to keep you up to date with our work in this area.
Unfortunately some of the arguments put across in the consultation do not adequately explain the impact of sticking to a gluten free diet for a lifetime and misrepresent the real issues that people with coeliac disease face having to live gluten free. So, we have set these out more clearly in our consultation guide so you can understand Coeliac UK’s position and consider your own response.
Feel free to use this information to formulate your own personal response to this consultation by midday 22 June.
Make your voice heard
You can take part in the consultation by completing the questions online and ensure your voice is heard.
If you would be adversely affected by any policy change and you’d like to talk to us, then get in touch at prescriptions@coeliac.org.uk
We are also telling the media about the consultation.