Provision of NRT, E-Cigs and Stop Smoking Medication

Descriptions

Leicester City Council's Public Health's integrated lifestyle service (Live Well) is a lifestyle service that offers a variety of services to residents living in Leicester to improve their health and wellbeing. These services include stop smoking, physical activity, alcohol support and falls prevention.

The Stop Smoking Service offers clients 12-week behavioural support alongside access to NRT and e-cigarettes to support the client to achieve a successful quit attempt. All NRT and e-cigarettes are currently housed internally. Stock is managed by the team who coordinate all orders directly with the Suppliers and carry out regular stock takes. The team are responsible for packaging and dispensing all NRT and e-cigarettes to every client on the service.

The Government has set out clear targets for Leicester City as part of the smokefree generation funding allocation. This will increase the number of clients using the service, and subsequently increase the amount of NRT, e-cigarettes and other stop smoking medications being prescribed to aid every quit attempt.

Public Health require an efficient system to be in place to dispense all NRT, e-cigarettes and introduce the option of prescribing stop smoking medication.

Engagement

No formal market engagement was undertaken however, a meeting was held in early 2025 with a Provider to discuss the service they offer and if any other clients were using their service. The discussion also covered the Council’s current process in place for distributing NRT and E-Cigarettes and how the process can be streamlined for operational efficiency. The Provider detailed their service and their potential offering regarding the posting, packaging and storage provisions, potential costs and regarding their requirements on Patient Group Directions (PGDs).