Around 40 per cent of independent care boards (ICBs) across the country have stopped providing gluten-free products to coeliacs<\/a>, arguing they cost the NHS<\/a> far more than they cost to buy in supermarkets.<\/p>\n Now, healthcare leaders<\/a> in Cheshire and Merseyside have suggested children<\/a> living in poverty could use food banks<\/a> or food pantries instead \u2013 a decision doctors<\/a> in the North West have described as \u201ccruel and risky\u201d.<\/p>\n The decision comes despite doctors who care for patients with coeliac disease \u2013 which affects around 1 per cent of people in the UK \u2013 being advised that the only effective treatment is a gluten-free diet, and if the condition is left untreated, it can result in \u201cserious long-term complications<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Clinicians and doctors have attempted to intervene and, in emails seen by The Independent, warned that the decision will drive inequalities, with families unable to afford food.<\/p>\n At a meeting in May, when the decision was made to cut prescriptions<\/a> for both adults and children<\/a>, executives for Cheshire and Merseyside ICB acknowledged the problem facing the poorest families.<\/p>\n One executive asked: \u201cHave we established whether or not food banks<\/a> and food pantries routinely have gluten-free products available, and if not, is that one of the mitigations that could be applied to make sure the most vulnerable do have guaranteed access through those mechanisms?\u201d <\/p>\n Another said: \u201cI\u2019ll see if we can delve into the [food] pantries because I think that\u2019s the area that perhaps we can have the greatest impact.\u201d<\/p>\n During the heated meeting, a member of the public warned: \u201cYou are taking food out of children’s mouths… This area has got some of the poorest areas in the country. You\u2019re handing a statutory duty [back] to charity, back to Victorian values. You\u2019re a bunch of Marie Antoinettes, you all should be ashamed of yourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Around 40 per cent of ICBs across the country have stopped providing gluten-free products to coeliacs (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n The ICB decided to give a six-month extension to prescriptions for children, which is due to end in November.<\/p>\n Ahead of the change, one doctor levied a stern warning over the scale of the food poverty in the area, giving the example of a child with diabetes who was forced to have their emergency medication for hypoglycaemia for dinner because their family had no food.<\/p>\n The email, seen by The Independent, said: \u201cI was utterly shocked and very sad if I\u2019m honest \u2013 and I absolutely understand the concerns that this will drive health inequalities in families of kids with coeliac disease<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cThe ICB\u2019s mitigation strategy, which includes checking whether food banks stock gluten-free food \u2013 I think if they\u2019re having to have this discussion, this isn\u2019t a risk worth putting onto children. Their understanding of how people utilise food banks and pantries is actually quite optimistic and totally underestimates the risks.\u201d<\/p>\n In another email seen by The Independent, a clinician said the ICB\u2019s decision \u201cshows a shocking level of ignorance\u201d, warning of \u201cshort-term monetary gain which in the long term will cost much more than was saved\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Around](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/29080850-481b97bc-7710-4142-8023-f4e0c558b5d8.jpg\")
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