Ealing Central and Acton MP Dr Rupa Huq has raised concerns with government ministers over what campaigners say is a growing postcode lottery in NHS support for people with coeliac disease, with some patients paying up to six times more for everyday staples such as bread.
Dr Huq raised the issue at a parliamentary event last month (23 June 2026) organised with Coeliac UK, where MPs, patients and medical professionals warned that rising food costs and cuts to gluten-free prescriptions were putting the health of some people with coeliac disease at risk. Public Health Minister Sharon Hodgson was among those who attended.
Coeliac disease affects around one in 100 people in the UK and the only effective way of managing the autoimmune condition is to follow a strict gluten-free diet for life. However, research from Coeliac UK found a gluten-free weekly shop costs around 35% more than a standard one, while the cheapest gluten-free loaf of bread costs around six times more than its gluten-containing equivalent.
Campaigners say that after responsibility for prescribing gluten-free foods passed to Integrated Care Boards, around two-thirds of people with coeliac disease in England now live in areas where prescriptions have either been restricted or stopped altogether. They argue that patients in England are now receiving less support than those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Dr Huq said: “We face a cost of living crisis which is exacerbated for the sufferers of coeliac disease, who are paying over the odds; often six times the cost of standard gluten-containing fare. There are also glaring inequalities in how this is dealt with within the British Isles.”
She said she had since secured a further ministerial meeting to continue pressing the case for change.
