The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7177 p805-809
8 December 2001

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

News summary

Gluten-free food scheme delayed

The Department of Health has postponed the introduction of a scheme intended to allow patients with coeliac disease to obtain gluten-free foods from pharmacies without a prescription (PJ, 13 October, p498) following concerns raised about the scheme and its costs.

Following consultations on the proposal, the Department of Health has said that the scheme will not be implemented in December as planned. Two main problems were raised during the consultation.

The first was that there was little guidance about what were acceptable quantities of food for pharmacists to supply. In addition, patients would be able to go from one pharmacy to the next and collect a supply from each. This would only be revealed by later checks of records of supply not at the time of dispensing.

The second problem revolved around where the costs of the scheme should be borne. The proposal was that costs would be allocated to the primary care trust where the supplying pharmacy was located. Some PCTs objected to this on the grounds that they might have to bear additional costs either during holiday times or because a mail-order pharmacy was located in their area. There was also concern that there would be a general lack of financial control because patients would not be responsible for the costs of foods supplied.

The Department says that it will be looking at the scheme again to see how these concerns might be addressed.

Back to Top