Hospitals in Norfolk, London, Leicester and Edinburgh are set to participate in a trial where smokers attending emergency departments will be given free e-cigarettes and taught how to use them.

Public Health England says that there is increasing evidence that supports the use of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation, with an estimated 50,000 smokers quitting a year in England with the help of vaping. However, e-cigarettes are not available on the NHS.

As part of the trial, patients will be offered a device, enough e-liquid supplies for a week, and referral to local smoking-cessation services, alongside medical advice. As part of the research, which will commence in the Autumn, some smokers in emergency departments - whatever they are being treated for - will be given vaping starter packs and referred for continuing support. They will then have to fund any additional vaping materials themselves.

Others patients will receive only leaflets with details of local smoking-cessation services, before both groups will be asked if they still smoke one, three and six months later.

The research team hope to eventually recruit around 1,000 smokers to the trial.

Caitlin Notley, who is helping lead the study, at the University of East Anglia, said: “Many people who smoke want to quit, but find it difficult to succeed in the long term. Electronic cigarettes mimic the experience of cigarette smoking because they are hand-held and generate a smoke-like vapour when used. They can be an attractive option for helping people switch from smoking, even if they have tried and failed in the past. We know that they are much less harmful than smoking tobacco, and that they have been shown to help smokers quit.”

The new trial is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and will be run by the Norwich Clinical Trials Unit at UEA.