PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Gluten-free Foods: Prescriptions (10 October 2018)

The Government proposed changes to the availability of gluten free (GF) foods on National Health Service prescription in its March 2017 public consultation. The majority of consultation respondents agreed with the option to restrict GF prescribing to certain foods. The Government has proposed to restrict to bread and mixes following feedback from the consultation. Evidence submitted to the consultation showed that patients generally found GF mixes easier to use and gave better results for baking GF items such as bread. Prescribing data also showed that mixes were more widely prescribed to patients than flour alone.

This option ensures the best use of NHS resources while maintaining availability of staple GF foods for patients on prescription. Work to implement these changes is underway.