The NHS wastes £25.7 million-a-year prescribing gluten-free food for coeliacs in a 'ludicrous' policy which sees doctors forced to act as grocers, a leading GP has warned.

Dr James Cave, a general practitioner and editor of the Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin, wrote in a BMJ article that the health service was being ‘ripped off’ by suppliers who charge more than five times the price to provide gluten-free as supermarkets.

He suggests moving to a voucher system where coeliacs would be able to buy directly from high street stores.

“It’s ludicrous for the NHS to be treating a food product as a drug and to require GPs and pharmacists to behave as grocers,” said Dr Cave.

“It’s a time-consuming rigmarole and, for the NHS, a very expensive one,” he argues.

“The eight basic gluten-free staples advised for people with coeliac disease are all cheaper from a supermarket than the NHS price. This is a scandal.”

The NHS pays up to £6.73 for 500g of pasta, yet 500g of gluten-free pasta will cost £1.20 at a supermarket. Additionally, there is a dispensing fee which is charged on top of all prescriptions.

“If we stopped prescribing gluten-free products tomorrow GPs would shout for joy and the NHS would stop being ripped off,” he added.