§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many prescriptions for special diets were issued by general practitioners in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement;
(2) in what circumstances general practitioners are able to issue national health service prescriptions for special diets; what restrictions there are on the foods available on prescription; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyIt is not the function of the NHS to provide food products on prescription. We recognise that in some cases GPs may consider their active intervention is needed to help patients keep to medically recommended diets. GPs may therefore prescribe from a range of food products recommended by the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances.
GPs are also free to prescribe other nutritional products, including vitamins and minerals, wherever necessary for their patients' treatment.
Products which the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances considers have no therapeutic use in the treatment of disease in the community are added to schedule 3A to the National Health Service (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1974, so that they cannot be prescribed by GPs at NHS expense.
Although the Department's prescribing statistics include the estimated number of prescriptions for nutritional products, many of these products have several uses and it is therefore not possible to identify those which are used in "special diets". In addition, a large number of these products are prescribed so infrequently that the statistics are not a reliable measure of the number of prescriptions issued.