Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with his Northern Ireland counterpart on introducing charge cards to support coeliacs in paying for gluten free alternatives.

No discussions between ministers and their counterparts in Northern Ireland on introducing charge cards to support coeliacs in paying for gluten free (GF) alternatives have been held.

In the United Kingdom, healthcare is a devolved matter. Nearly all health and social care policy in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, including arrangements for coeliac patients, is handled by their respective administrations.

Following a review in 2019, the position in England remains that GF bread and mixes can be provided to all eligible coeliac patients on a National Health Service prescription, and a wide range of these items continue to be listed in Part XV of the Drug Tariff.