Decision report 201201762

Summary

Mr C, who is a prisoner, suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) - a condition that can cause stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. He told us that he spent a short period of time in one prison, where he received a gluten free diet to help his symptoms. However, when he transferred to the prison where he was to spend the majority of his sentence, he only received a gluten free diet for around three weeks. It was then stopped while the board awaited the results of blood tests. When the results came back, they showed that Mr C was not gluten intolerant, and he was told he would not receive a gluten free diet in future.

We did not uphold Mr C's complaint as we found that the decision not to provide him with a gluten free diet was clinically appropriate. However, we were critical of the board for the apparent inconsistency in approach, as Mr C apparently initially received a gluten free diet, which raised his expectations about what he should receive. We drew this to the board's attention.