BENEFITS hmmmm

[Neil]

Originally Posted by Barrie Yates

Perhaps our resident cretin has forgotten that there is a charge for prescription items - around £8.00 for each item - unless you are over 60, receiving certain benefits or are under 16.....

If you take a lot of medication anyway you would be better off with a pre payment certificate and then anything extra will be free including the food mentioned

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

The "resident cretin" has had his whinge and is having a better day....


...The resident "troll" however would like to add that nowadays most supermarket chains offer a good variety of 'reasonably priced' gluten-free products.

It is still the case that gluten free foods are much more expensive than the non gluten free ones...this is for bread which is a basic staple.
Many other processed foods also contain hidden gluten...so you have to be a very accomplished label reader.

Many coeliacs buy their own flour and make their own bread....but as I said before this takes tie effort and planning...coeliacs cannot walk into Greggs and buy the fast junk food that this story would have us believe is being provided for all and sundry on prescription...and yes it needs a prescription...and a prescription needs a doctor to complete and sign it...so if there is a fault it is with the prescriber...who is a doctor.

I have a friend who has recently been diagnosed as coeliac and she is having to rearrange her whole life...her family are all going to be having wheat free food(paid for by her...not prescribed) as she is worried that should they consume something which has wheat in it and it contaminates a surface or area, then she will be very ill again.
Being coeliac is not pleasant for the sufferer or the family

[cashman]

Yeh can't educate a plank Margaret, futile.

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

Perhaps,years ago,when gluten-free food was difficult and expensive to source, coeliac patients could expect to receive a prescription for certain foodstuffs. Now, with increased availability and much lower costs it seems appropriate to reduce the number of gluten-free prescription units available and weed out those who are taking the NHS for a ride.
This reflects the 'facts' that gluten-free products are now widely available and that limited NHS resources must be used prudently.
It also reflects the 'fact' that a coeliac patient can enjoy a well-balanced diet and replace bread and pasta with other naturally gluten-free products such as potatoes, rice and some noodles.

If the resident troll/cretin is going to filch stuff from the internet in a vain attempt to prove his tabloid frenzied point of view....maybe, just maybe..he should have read the whole article which was showing that there had been a reduction in the prescribed monthly units in that area..

WSCCG promotes changes to gluten-free prescription units - NHS West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning GroupNHS West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group

[Accyexplorer]

Sorry G,I forgot mention they are the words of a 'chief pharmacist' for the NHS at West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group,thanks for highlighting the fact .

[Guinness]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

Sorry G,I forgot mention they are the words of a 'chief pharmacist' for the NHS at West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group,thanks for highlighting the fact .

You are most welcome..did you happen to read where that 'chief pharmacist' pointed out that the prescriptions had been reduced....didn't see much evidence of people opening cake shops or filling their shopping trolleys..did you?

I’ll also highlight that once again rags like the Daily Mail and Tory lovin’ Telegraph spout ‘leaked’ figures from tame Harley Street practitioners blaming the NHS and the ill, sick and disabled for all this nations financial problems….£116 million aint even a drop in the ocean to the amount of tax that some tory supporting companies owe this country.

And sheep like you, jump up and down, wave your arms and dance to the tune of this type of government spin and half truth, without even realising that you are being led to the abbatoir.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Guinness

And sheep like you, jump up and down, wave your arms and dance to the tune of this type of government spin and half truth, without even realising that you are being led to the abbatoir.

Oh how i wish!!

[Margaret Pilkington]

If you read the Daily Telegraph article right to the end, you will see that there is a correction to this story.
The NHS do not spend £116 million on gluten free dietary supplements.....that is the entire cost of dietary supplement...These will include those nourishing drinks for patients who cannot eat normal food due to debilitating long term illness(cancer, Crohn's Disease....those patients who have motor neurone disease and cannot swallow and are fed through a hole in their abdominal wall.....it will also include patients who have other neurological conditions which affect their ability to swallow)....but I guess that this does not suit the purpose of your post Jason...to,demonise those who have a medical,condition over which they have no control, have played no part in(unlike alcoholics and drug addicts).....but you would wish this support(where it is accepted.....many coeliacs do not ask for prescribed foods) to be withdrawn.....remove from these people the rare chance to have a biscuit with their cup of tea. How very mean spirited this is.

[Accyexplorer]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

If you read the Daily Telegraph article right to the end, you will see that there is a correction to this story.
The NHS do not spend £116 million on gluten free dietary supplements.....that is the entire cost of dietary supplement...These will include those nourishing drinks for patients who cannot eat normal food due to debilitating long term illness(cancer, Crohn's Disease....those patients who have motor neurone disease and cannot swallow and are fed through a hole in their abdominal wall.....it will also include patients who have other neurological conditions which affect their ability to swallow)....but I guess that this does not suit the purpose of your post Jason...to,demonise those who have a medical,condition over which they have no control, have played no part in(unlike alcoholics and drug addicts).....but you would wish this support(where it is accepted.....many coeliacs do not ask for prescribed foods) to be withdrawn.....remove from these people the rare chance to have a biscuit with their cup of tea. How very mean spirited this is.

As a non sufferer,It would be easy for me to say it's time those with this disease put on their big boy pants and cut the offending foods out of their diet but I do have a little empathy.
Im also fully aware there are many ways the NHS could save money,like you say,drug users (smokers and alcoholics included) who feel it's acceptable to abuse their body's then turn to the NHS to sort their (self inflicted) problems out, I agree, this too could and should be trimmed.

Maybe its just me being ignorant that I don't see how this 'food' is classed as a (tax funded) medicine or how difficult it is sticking to a strict diet.
Fact is,free stuff usually encourages not only waste but folk to take the Michael and I'm not happy paying for folk who take the p1ss which in turn caused me to post the article....perhaps (like G kindly pointed out) I'm just a "sheep"

[Margaret Pilkington]

well Jason, I suggest that as you do not know how hard it is to stick to this type of diet...you should go away and research all the things that wheat finds its way into......you will find that many products have wheat in them and for coeliacs it is important that the food they are going to consume is made in an environment which has no possibility of having been contaminated by anything which had wheat in it or come into contact with wheat.
I would also suggest that you try to stick to this diet for something like...well, how about a month? See if you find it easy....see if you get fat off eating wheat free donuts, cakes and pizza.

It is definitely not a case of the sufferers putting on their big boy pants as you put it.
If they want a biscuit(something you perhaps enjoy and take for granted) they have to a) bake it themselves.
b) buy it at exorbitant cost from a supermarket
c) hope they can get a packet of wheat free digestives on prescription at £8 a shot.
d) do without.

Do you like lovely thick rich gravy on your dinner?
if your answer is yes....then pity the coeliac as they cannot have this.
very many of the foods that you enjoy are not suitable for these sufferers.

And as for the last bit of your post...yes you are being ignorant...and I do not mean this in a derogatory way(ignorant can mean uneducated)......if you do not know what you are talking about you could either stay silent or you could educate yourself on the privations faced by those who suffer this lifelong incurable condition.

I am not happy about a lot of things.....the people who come here and get treatment to which they are not entitled and do not pay for it.......the fact that we let people into the country who have paid absolutely nothing but they can get all kinds of benefits....the fact that illegal immigrants are treated better than some pensioners(hotels, meals cooked spending money etc).

[Accyexplorer]

Guess it's time to be quite about gluten free fodder then,with names like cretin,troll,plank and sheep I'm developing quite a complex .

What about this contentious headline?

NHS to offer e-cigarettes on prescription to help people give up smoking - Mirror Online

I say, if you can afford to smoke (£7+ a packet) you can afford your own ruddy Ecig

[Margaret Pilkington]

The NHS already offers patches and other items to help smokers give up cigarettes...so this is yet another non story...it is just a different tack to helping smokers quit their habit.

[Accyexplorer]

Yes,and the company's who make them be ripping off the NHS in a similar way to those company's who make gluten free products do.

[Margaret Pilkington]

have you got evidence of that? Or is it just supposition?
I think the NHS puts tenders out for items that they purchase......I know that hospitals do this.

[Accyexplorer]

I'm sure I could find some evidence if it's required...if not I apologise for jumping to conclusions again
I'm actually surprised they're even contemplating this very generous offer,saying that at least Ecigs work unlike the gum that tasted like .
Personally,I won't be taking them up on their offer as I'm happy spending Xamount off pounds a week on my habit,it's saved me a fortune since I started on it