Suspension of Gluten Free Prescribing

Posted on January 3rd, 2018

Dear Patient,

With effect from 1 December 2017, NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group (SCCG) have issued guidance requesting that manufactured gluten free foods are no longer be prescribed for adults in Sheffield. This decision was made at the SCCG Governing Body meeting on 2 November 2017 following a period of wide consultation in the city.  Sheffield in line with other major cities has taken this decision after a lot of discussion and careful thought.  Coeliac UK has been represented and patient’s views were widely sought as were the views of the consultants at the hospital.

NHS Sheffield CCG has a public website – http://www.sheffieldccg.nhs.uk/  and this has a rich source of information about alternatives to gluten and how to stay healthy eating a diet that does not contain any gluten. I understand you will be very disappointed to hear this news and I apologise for the informality of a website post.

As you can see this is a decision that has been taken at the highest level in order to make best use of NHS resources. As a result, from 1 December we will no longer be supplying prescriptions for gluten free products to adults. Having said that I would urge you to live a gluten free lifestyle, I would encourage you to have your flu jab and if you would like to come and talk to us please make an appointment and we will be pleased to see you.  If this causes undue hardship please let us know.  It is important that we do get feedback on any problems you may have.

Yours sincerely

Dr D. Leonard