1 September 2015

Last weekend the Scottish Daily Mail published an article entitled ‘Doughnuts and Pizza on NHS: Scots doctors hand out gluten-free junk on prescription' which repeated misleading arguments from the English Daily Mail's article from last month.

In response to this latest article, we have sent the below letter to the Scottish Daily Mail to address the misleading points made. The letter, with some amendments, has been published in today's paper.

The letter

Dear Sir/Madam

It is with dismay that we see your newspaper has chosen to re-run a downright misleading story castigating the many thousands of people with coeliac disease as undeserving recipients of NHS prescriptions for junk food. The article in the Scottish Daily Mail (Saturday 29 August) ‘Doughnuts and Pizza on NHS: Scots doctors hand out gluten-free junk on prescription’ is a deliberate re-hash of a story that appeared in the English version of your newspaper a couple of weeks ago. That article has been thoroughly debunked and it is outrageous that you have sought to again bring back such a distorted story, this time to your readers in Scotland.

For a start, it is very misleading to suggest that millions are being spent on junk food. In 2014, an overwhelming 98% of the products prescribed by the NHS in Scotland were for staple gluten-free foods such as breads and flours. Guidance on gluten-free prescribing sets out clearly that only gluten-free staples should be prescribed, which Coeliac UK supports.

It is also wrong to suggest that patients simply have to register with a pharmacist to take advantage of a new ordering scheme. A formal, medical diagnosis is required for coeliac disease and this new scheme is designed to reduce pressures on GP time, while improving efficiency and reducing waste. People with coeliac disease are responsible in their use of NHS resources.

And it is wrong to suggest that gluten free staples are easily available in the shops. Research shows that small stores, typical in rural areas, and budget supermarkets have little, if any, provision.  What’s more the high cost, around 3-4 times more for breads and flours, excludes many more patients from accessing important foods in a healthy balanced diet.  

Finally the article goes on to misrepresent, once again, Dr Fayyaz Chaudhri’s views on the matter. After the publication of the original Daily Mail article Dr Chaudhri issued a complaint letter to the paper and asked for a statement to that effect to be put on the Charity’s website.

Coeliac disease is a serious lifelong autoimmune condition for which the only treatment is a lifelong strict gluten-free diet. Undiagnosed or untreated coeliac disease can lead to osteoporosis, infertility and in rare cases, small bowel cancer and without support, people with coeliac disease are at greater risk of these complications. Gluten-free food on prescription is an important low cost support, particularly for vulnerable groups, to avoid expensive complications at greater long term cost to the NHS.

We would like the Daily Mail, in all parts of the UK, to stop misleading readers on this issue and we ask you to clarify the information printed in your article on 29 August 2015.

Sarah Sleet

Chief Executive of Coeliac UK