NICE summary – Coeliac disease: recognition, assessment and management

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has released new guidance on coeliac disease. The guideline, Coeliac disease: recognition, assessment and management, has had key areas summarised and will be distributed with Nursing in Practice and Pulse. It covers the recognition, assessment and management of coeliac disease in children, young people and adults and is aimed at healthcare professionals. The charity Coeliac UK describes the condition as an autoimmune disease caused by intolerance to gluten. It is estimated that 1 in 100 people have the condition in the UK. However, according to Coeliac UK only 24% who have the condition have been diagnosed, which means there are currently nearly half a million people who have coeliac disease but don’t yet know. Dr JSO Dalrymple MBBS DRCOG MSc MD, member of the Coeliac UK Health Advisory Committee, said: “With its new recommendation for annual review, the updated NICE guideline on coeliac disease is a welcome development, to ensure that the health of patients with the disease is appropriately monitored and treated. This is particularly important at this time when in parts of England, there is restricted and variable access to NHS prescriptions for gluten-free staple food with unknown impact.” It updates and replaces NICE guideline CG86. It is now available online here.