§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there has been any change in his Department's guidelines to doctors concerning the National Health Service prescription of gluten-free products for coeliacs and people with dermatitis herpeti-formis; and what measures he is taking to correct misleading impressions resulting from a circular from his Department stating that gluten-free products should be available on National Health Service prescription for exceptional cases only.
§ Mr. MellorThere has been no change in the Department's guidelines to doctors about the prescription of gluten-free products on the National Health Service. The guidance recently provided to general practitioners in a leaflet entitled "Guidelines for Prescribing Borderline Substances" incorporates the Department's long-standing policy on this matter.
It is not the function of the NHS to provide food for people in the community, even for those who have to follow special diets for medical reasons. However, we do recognise that in some cases it may be necessary for doctors to prescribe foods in order to enable their patients to maintain their diet. A range of specially manufactured gluten-free foods is therefore available on prescription for patients with coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis where the doctor considers that his active intervention is needed to help the patient keep to a suitable diet. We have always considered that such cases would be the exception rather than the rule.