Coeliac UK has produced an online training course for caterers. Further information on the course can be found on the Coeliac UK website.

Campaigning is about getting people who can create change to listen to what you’re saying. This is a slow process which can often mean repeating the same thing in different ways, to the same audience. The more people that get involved in a campaign, the more impact it will have. We rely on local people like yourself, to help us make a difference in your local community. If a lot of people get involved in communities across the country, then the activity joins up and creates a national campaign.

In England, health policy is localised and in the last 12 months we have taken legal action where a CCG policy presented a blanket ban on gluten free prescribing. Once the results of the consultation are known we will consider next steps. The grounds for making a legal challenge may be very restricted if the implementation of change follows the law on the required consultation approach and appropriate changes in the regulations.

No matter how little time you can spare, there is always something you can do to help get our message across to others. There are other of people like you who have busy lives and other commitments, but lots of people doing a little, adds up. You could spend 15 minutes using a template to write to your MP, complete an online petition or survey, or, if you have a little longer, talk to your local restaurant about catering gluten free. Whatever you’re happy to do, it will all help to raise awareness about coeliac disease.

There is a National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline on recognition, assessment and management of coeliac disease for healthcare professionals in Primary and Secondary care. The guideline outlines the symptoms and patients at risk of coeliac disease and also the appropriate blood tests and the exact process to be completed in order to identify patients with coeliac disease.

The British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (BSPGHAN) in collaboration with Coeliac UK published guidelines on the diagnosis of coeliac disease in children in 2013. These guidelines suggest that in some cases in children with symptoms and whose blood tests show a high level of antibodies and who have the genes present for coeliac disease, a biopsy may not be needed to confirm diagnosis. We have further information on the diagnosis of coeliac disease on our website.

Gluten-free oats may be introduced to the diet at any stage following diagnosis. However, a small percentage of people with coeliac disease are sensitive to gluten-free oats and if a patient has ongoing symptoms whilst including gluten-free oats in the diet, their use should be reviewed by a health professional. Read more about oats.

Coeliac UK is campaigning on a range of issues that affect those with coeliac disease. These range from issues around improving diagnosis rates through to getting more gluten-free substitute food into stores.

We are campaigning on the issues most important to our Members and our community. These issues include improving diagnosis, keeping gluten-free prescriptions within the NHS, creating more choice for people with coeliac disease through better provision in shops and restaurants.

We run campaigns for as long as they are needed to achieve their goals.

Introducing a pharmacy led supply scheme allows better stock control of gluten-free foods for pharmacists as well as providing a more flexible service to improve the patient experience.

Pharmacists and GP dispensaries are paid a service charge at six monthly intervals for each patient who accesses the service. When the scheme in Northamptonshire was introduced it was run as an Enhanced Service with funding for this element of the contract coming from Primary Care Contracting budgets.