Nottingham North East CCG, Nottingham West CCG and Rushcliffe CCG are consulting with the public over whether to stop gluten-free foods from being available on prescription for coeliacs.
The service costs the NHS £25m a year, and costs the CCGs locally around £245,000 annually.
Nottingham North East CCG, Nottingham West CCG and Rushcliffe CCG are consulting with the public over whether to stop gluten-free foods from being available on prescription for coeliacs.
The service costs the NHS £25m a year, and costs the CCGs locally around £245,000 annually.
For more than 30 years, the NHS has prescribed gluten-free foods like bread, flour, cereal and pasta to help people with coeliac disease to follow a gluten-free diet. However, this policy was created at a time when gluten-free foods were not as readily available as they are today.
In a statement, Nottingham North East CCG said that “with an increasing demand for services, the NHS must look at all the products and services and make decisions about what services to expand and what to reduce”.
In recent years, the range of gluten-free products has increased dramatically, with most supermarkets now stocking a wide range of these items.
“As a result, we are exploring the possibility of no longer providing gluten-free foods on a prescription basis,” they added.
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