The Gluten Free Foods Service allows patients to self-manage their gluten free prescriptions with the assistance of community pharmacy. Both adult and paediatric patients with a confirmed diagnosis of either Coeliac Disease or Dermatitis Herpetiformis will benefit from this scheme. Patients eligible for the service are identified by their GP. There is a patient information leaflet and pack available.
Patient registration for the service is required and this is achieved through completion of the Patient Registration Form by the GP or downloading the form available here (please note that in order to register for this service the patient’s GP must have agreed the number of units and have signed the form).
Newly diagnosed patients will first go through the Dietetic Service (see pathway below). This will be followed by a letter to their GP including the appropriate number of units.
It is recommended that patients are referred to this service in a staged manner to assist with pharmacy implementation.
Registration takes place with the patient’s chosen community pharmacy. Creation of a Pharmacy Care Record (PCR) and an initial GFF support tool patient assessment must take place. Thereafter there is an annual GFF review. Any clinical referrals resulting from the assessment should be made directly to the patient’s GP.
Patients can choose which staple foods they require from the Lothian Formulary up to their maximum allocated units (it should be noted that all products dispensed within the Lothian area will be chosen from the Lothian Joint Formulary. These have been selected on the basis of palatability and nutritional value. This may be a change for the patient and needs to be discussed prior to registration by both the GP and the community pharmacist). To order products patients are required to complete a Gluten-Free Order Request Form This must be retained in the pharmacy for 12 months.
Community pharmacists can either hand write prescriptions on CPUS stationery or use UCF and claim electronically.