11 April 2017

The four CCGs that are reviewing their policies are NHS South Reading CCG, North and West Reading CCG, Wokingham CCG and Newbury and Districts CCG.

The CCGs recently changed their gluten free prescribing policy to 8 units of pasta, bread, flour mixes and flour each month. However, the CCGs are now considering complete removal of access to gluten free food on prescription.

We will be submitting a formal response in support of continuing access to gluten free food on prescription in view of the higher cost and limited availability of gluten free staple foods, compared to gluten containing, in budget and convenience stores. We will also be asking local healthcare professionals for their support.

Have your say

The consultation is open until 25 April 2017 and we would encourage you to respond to make sure your voice is heard. The online survey can be found at:

www.healthnetwork-berkshire.nhs.uk/consult.ti/Supmed/respondByQuestionnaire

If you wish to request a hard copy of the survey please call 0118 950 3094 or write to Patient and Public Involvement Team, NHS Berkshire West CCGs, 57-59 Bath Road, Reading, RG30 2BA.

We would also encourage you to write to your local MP, we have a sample letter on our website which you can use, or please feel free to write your own letter explaining how the proposed changes would affect you.

As part of our work in opposing proposed prescription cuts, we are looking for people who would be affected by the proposed prescription cuts to act as case studies. This will enable us to give examples to the media of how this policy change would affect people with coeliac disease. To become a case study or to find out more about interview opportunities please call us on 0333 332 2033. 

Department of Health national consultation on gluten free prescribing

You may already have seen that the Department of Health has launched a national consultation on gluten free prescribing. The consultation outlines three options for the future of gluten free prescribing in England:

• Make no changes to current gluten free prescribing legislation
• Withdraw all gluten free prescriptions
• Only allow the prescribing of certain gluten free foods (eg limited to bread and flour)

The Department of Health is providing this opportunity for patients to have their say on the above options and again we would like to encourage you to make your voice heard. For further details and to participate in this national survey, please visit our website or, if you would like a paper copy of the consultation to respond to, please call us at 0333 332 2033.

We will provide updates as the situation progresses on both consultations through direct mailings, Crossed Grain magazine and on our website.