The charity Coeliac UK has raised “grave concerns” about a decision by NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board to withdraw gluten-free prescriptions for people with coeliac disease from February 2025.

The charity says 72 per cent of 1,468 respondents to a recent public consultation disagreed with the ICB’s proposal. It highlighted the “significant additional cost” of gluten-free staple substitute products.

Coeliac disease is a serious autoimmune condition, affecting around 1 in a 100 people. Symptoms are wide ranging but can include bloating, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea and tiredness.

The charity says the cost of providing gluten free prescriptions accounts for less than 0.07 per cent of prescribing spend in England and the spend in LLR ICB represents less than 0.01 per cent of the ICBs annual budget.

LLR ICB announced the decision following its board meeting on 12 December, and said it has recommended that additional support should be put in place for patients following diagnosis of coeliac disease.

The ICB says its decision will save the NHS more than £250,000 a year and is in line with other parts of the East Midlands where similar decisions have been taken. People affected by the changes will be contacted in January 2025 via their GP practice with further information about the change.

Following a 2017 Department of Health and Social Care review, gluten-free prescriptions for people with coeliac disease in England were restricted to bread and flour mix only. It was left to local commissioners to decide whether to limit further than this or withdraw it altogether. As such prescription policies differ across the country.

A 2024 Coeliac UK report revealed a weekly gluten-free food shop can be as much as 35 per cent more expensive than a standard weekly food shop. A gluten free loaf of bread is on average 4.5 times more expensive than a standard gluten containing loaf.

Contrary to the ICB’s claims, the Coeliac Society says complete replacement of gluten containing staple foods is not easy and gluten-free substitute foods are important for both practical reasons and for their nutritional contribution to the diet.