Yesterday, Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) made the decision to stop the prescribing of gluten-free foods with immediate effect.
This decision was made despite Coeliac UK making a strong case for keeping gluten-free prescriptions over the last few months. The CCG held a public consultation which the Charity and many local people with coeliac disease responded to and on 6 January Coeliac UK’s Head of Campaigns Lisa Bainbridge attended a meeting of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The CCG has stated that they will only fund gluten-free foods in ‘clinically exceptional cases’ and Coeliac UK will be asking for more details as to how they will identify this group of people. Coeliac UK will also be asking the CCG how the impact of the change on the long term health of people with coeliac disease will be monitored, and we will keep you updated on any developments.
This news comes only a few months after both the North Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group and the West Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group announced they would also be stopping gluten-free food prescriptions for adults.