17 June 2016

We notified our Members in March about the consultation on gluten-free prescribing held by Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG. The CCG had proposed to withdraw gluten-free food on prescription for adults and to restrict prescriptions for children under 16 years of age, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The CCG has reported that overall, 169 people responded to the survey. We would like to thank you for taking part in the consultation, sharing your opinions has made a real difference and the Governing Body has acknowledged that failing to prescribe any gluten-free foods could cause financial hardship for some patients. They have therefore decided not to approve the original proposal.

The CCG has made the decision to restrict the allowance of gluten-free food available on prescription for adults to a maximum of 8 units of bread, flour, bread mix, pasta, cereal or oats per month. For prescribing for children, GPs are referred to both the National Prescribing Guidelines and to another policy used in Greater Manchester to decide on appropriate prescribing for each child. The Greater Manchester policy can be viewed online.

Although we are disappointed that the CCG has introduced a policy which moves away from National Prescribing Guidelines, we are pleased to see that the CCG has consulted with patients and has not opted to completely remove access to gluten-free food on prescription, which was initially proposed by the CCG. We will be writing to the CCG to share our views on the policy and will provide updates on changes to prescribing policies in England in Crossed Grain magazine, on our website and in our electronic newsletters.

For more information about getting involved with our prescriptions campaign, visit our prescriptions campaign page.