Coeliac
Information about gluten free prescribing and other useful advice for people with coeliac disease.
Sheffield guidance on gluten free prescribing
There are different rules for different areas of the country for gluten free prescribing.
If you are diagnosed with coeliac disease and live in Sheffield, you are entitled to have gluten free bread loaves, rolls, baguettes or bread mixes on your repeat prescriptions.
To reduce waste from food expiring, our policy at UHS is to only prescribe up to a 28 day supply. It's worth checking with the gluten free manufacturer if the items you are looking to have on your repeat prescription can be frozen to further help reduce waste - as this does vary depending on the product and the brand.
The quantity of gluten free items you are entitled to each month depends on your age and gender:
Adult females: 8 units
Adult males: 12 units
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you entitled to extra units. Discuss this with us to calculate how many extra units you are entitled to.
Roughly one unit of bread is equivalent to 400g of bread, however different products come in different weights, so we generally assess that bread products up to 250g are 0.5 units, products up to 400g are 1 unit, and 500g bread mixes are 2 units.
Although you are entitled to 8 or 12 units, we kindly ask patients that if you do not feel you would get through this quantity of bread in a month that you request less units on your repeats. Again, this is to help reduce food waste - we can of course increase your quantity back up to the full amount of units if you did find you needed more bread each month.
The Coeliac website has a really useful webpage on this which explains this in greater detail. Please bear in mind that different areas have different rules of things you can have on prescription but as previously mentioned in Sheffield we can currently only add bread products and bread mixes.
Bread products available
If you are new to gluten free bread there are a variety of products that are available but can broadly be put into 4 categories, which are listed below. We have also included the advantages and disadvantages of each.
| Fresh Bread | Long life bread | Part-baked breads | Flour mixes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Made to order for you | Pre-made | Must be put in the oven before it can be eaten | |
| Advantages | Tends to have a nicer taste and texture | Tends to be quicker ordering for the pharmacy than fresh bread, longer shelf life, can be ordered in unit single quantities e.g. 1 x 400g loaf | Longer shelf life than fresh bread, often has a better taste and texture than long life bread, tends to be quicker ordering from the pharmacy than fresh bread can be ordered in single unit quantities e.g. 1 x 400g loaf | Used to make fresh bread which tends to have a better taste and texture, tends to be quicker ordering at pharmacy, can be ordered in unit single quantities e.g. 1 x 500g bag (2 units) |
| Disadvantages | Pharmacy will need to order so it can take a week or more for delivery to the pharmacy, shorter shelf life and as they are made to order, they come in batches of 8 units i.e you must have 8 units of this product, you can't have less than this | Taste and texture tends to not be as nice as fresh bread | You have to bake the bread before you can eat it | You have to make the bread before you can eat it |
Visit the Coeliac website to see all the different products that are available (including prescribable products). If you are new to gluten free products, you can get in contact with the producers of gluten free goods for samples of their items.
Prescription charges
With your 8 or 12 units, you can mix and match products e.g you could have 4 x units of long life bread, 2 x units of part baked rolls and 2 x units of bread mix. However it is important to note for each item you have on your prescription, you will be asked to pay a prescription charge by the pharmacy. Therefore if you pay for your prescriptions normally the above example would be 3 x NHS prescription charges each month. However if you had all 8 or 12 units as the same item e.g. 8 x units of long life bread, that would only be one prescription charge. Therefore, if you pay for your prescriptions, this is something to take into consideration. If you are a student it might be worth finding out if you are entitled to free prescriptions or if you want to explore pre-payment certificates to make the cost more economic. Please visit the Coeliac website for more information on this.
If you already know you are entitled to free prescriptions for a different reason and already have a prescription exemption, you would also be exempt from paying for your bread items.
Adding gluten free products to your repeats
Once you know what items you would like adding to your repeats then just let us know by emailing your choice to syicb-sheffield.universityhealthservice@nhs.net and ask for it to be sent to the pharmacy team. We aim to process your request within 2 weeks but will get in touch via text if you have any questions for you about your choices.
Useful information
The Coeliac website is a really useful resource for patients with coeliacs disease. Please do take some time to explore their website as it has lots of information, support and recipes.
You are entitled to have a coeliac review every year with our practice. As part of this we can check your weight, symptoms, and potentially request a blood test to check for any deficiencies, as having coeliac disease can reduce your absorption of nutrients. We do not send reminders for these reviews, but if you would like this please just request an appointment with a GP.
