Hi UK residents,
I am curious as to what differences there are between the UK and Jersey ( channel islands) health care, especially in regards to Coeliac disease.
So I was wondering if this is the same kind of form as in Jersey ( which I am trying to insert in this post!) Thanks.
Provisions for coeliac's vary across the UK, never mind Jersey!
Is this a form to let you get prescriptions from your local pharmacy? As pharmacy services are one of the areas that vary from place to place. A lot of English districts are stopping gluten free prescriptions altogether, or limiting the items you can get. I believe Wales and Scotland have managed to hold onto prescriptions overall, but the list of foods available varies between the different health boards.
Thanks Cooper27, as I suspected. Austerity from government, all over Britain, as usual hitting the poor & sick. A small loaf costs around £4 in Jersey.
It is very pricey, typically £3-3.50 on the mainland, so we mostly just eat foods that are naturally gluten free, and save bread for when we have a craving! Lidl have started selling some for £1.50 though, if you have any Lidl's there?
We can get some foods on prescription, but actually rarely use the service. You have to order 8 loaves in one go (which needs freezer space), the flour mix contains codex wheat starch which a lot of coeliacs can't eat, and they often substituted things.
Gluten free bread used to be incredibly expensive in UK but since the gluten free craze it is alot cheaper maybe that's why some NHS trusts have stopped paying for it
I think this will even up everywhere soon. It's good that food is cheap in UK, that must be a big help. I wish there was a bridge to England LOL!
Food is only really cheap in Aldi and Lidls but I suppose the powers that be in Jersey won't let them trade there
Yep. Correct.
That's the problem here, no competition. No we don't have lidl's. We have co op waitrose & iceland, but they are all franchises, hence they don't need to compete. So basically it's a monopoly using branded goods - at a price.
Willpower is needed, but Iv'e given up!
Do you have coeliac now Jenny583?
I don't know if I have coeliac. I had biopsy in 2011. Then GP started vouchers, as I couldnt afford the food & had malnutrition. Then last year they just stopped the vouchers suddenly.
Then I managed to get appt with endo for suspected pituitary dysfunction, ( after going from Dr to Dr- at great expense - & making a lot of noise). eventually in June -endo arranged for pituitary, iron & coeliac tests for this coming Oct, but that's been postponed twice, so latest is now this December.
But - get this, I havnt had the tests yet right? but the endo copied me into a letter to GP to say that my coeliac test was clear!
The rashes/ulcers are back, after resuming gluten. I have one on the back of my left leg right now, its always in the same place too.
Waitrose will sell gluten free bread probably reduce it at the end of the day too
One good thing about white bread in uk is that it is fortified with iodine my daughter went vegan and gluten free and developed hypothyroidism she wasn't getting iodine I buy organic sea kelp from ebay for iodine now
That's not on is it saying you aren't coeliac when you haven't even had the test?
Thanks. Well done for spotting your daughters iodine deficiancy! spirulina is good too - they say.
I can't avoid gluten so I'm in denial. Quite honestly I don't care any more what happens. Anyway I don't believe that I have celiac.
You can't buck the system here, & none of the supermarkets sell anything cheap here anyway. I pay £70 per hour for counseling, nearly half my income. That's more important than food.
my daughter's health came to a head when her voice became hoarse and she had diagnosed herself GP put her on levo but she weened off it still not 100%
Wow that must be some councillor?
Most of us seem to self diagnose, thanks to the internet we have that option. It seems we have no choice. I self diagnosed all that I have, and though confirmed as spot on, I still have to self treat via online sources, those 2 factors are what got me into trouble!
The counsellor is probably the cheapest available, & the only one really qualified. Rents are very steep here though, more than in London.
Keep researching for your daughters improvement, and it will pay off, there's always new discoveries about nutrition & such.xx
Can you have oats ? Porridge for breakfast?
Funny you should ask me that. Iv'e had a craving for oats recently. When I was young I practically lived on oats.
I must put oats on shopping list, I'm so forgetful these days!
If bread is so expensive in Jersey, might it be worth scanning EBay / Facebook marketplace for a second hand electric breadmaker?
I have just bought my first GF cook book. The simplest looking bread recipe requires 3 if not 4 different types of flour. Sigh.
As GF bread is also expensive in the U.K. (and so much of it tastes inferior) I buy any reduced GF bread that I see in the supermarket (Waitrose reduce theirs fairly often) and freeze it. Just as someone else here suggests.
A counsellor should not be charging you half of your weekly income in good conscience. I’m sure you have had the conversation, but in case you haven’t recently it is worth letting them know that the cost of it eats up so much of your budget. It sounds as if you are almost needing to get help from a food bank. Assuming they exist there. Is that how you feel?
I'm not that bothered TBH. I had a bread maker many years ago, I gave it to charity, as the kitchen is unusable. Flour goes mouldy within a day!
I don't think what little normal bread I get does any harm though. I get the cheaper out of date stuff, freeze it, then defrost in microwave.
But I could live without bread - if neccessary, I did for a long time when I couldn't eat anything except ginger & bananas!
My life right now depends on the counsellor, if you knew what I'm being put through you would understand, The £ is not important in the grand scheme of things.
Sorry if I gave the impression that counselling £ wasn’t £ well spent. That’s not at all what I think - the contrary. It can be absolutely vital. What I was trying to get at is that counsellors / therapists have special rates for those on low incomes, students etc. I’m sure that everything is more expensive on Jersey than here, but if there is room for further discussion over fees, do engage your counsellor on the question.
And I’ve trained / worked as a generalist adviser for CAB before, hence the comment about Food Banks. Working there you give food bank vouchers to people who have next to no money to spend on food at the end of the week, because of other bills, debts, low incomes etc. I know nothing about the specific food bank situ in Jersey, you may know more.
Sorry Georgeor,
Iv'e only just seen your post! Thank you. It's good to know that you have food banks in Uk, also a functional CAB. I have been told now by a lawyer that he will take me on soon, over a matter that has sorely troubled me. I hope also that he can point me to a solicitor for financial advice, as the only solution is to mortgage my house.
Merry Christmas Geogeor.
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