Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on patient care of the variation in prescribing policies for coeliac disease across clinical commissioning groups.

The Department has made no such assessment.

A wide range of gluten-free (GF) products are available in most supermarkets and online.

Following consultation with major stakeholders such as Coeliac UK, changes were made to legislation in 2018. As a result, gluten free bread and mixes can be prescribed on the NHS to support people with established coeliac disease. This ensures the best use of NHS resources while maintaining availability of staple GF foods for patients on prescription.