Don’t miss this opportunity to help more smokers in your practice quit. We are recruiting smokers to take part in an NIHR HTA funded trial of nicotine patch preloading, and we are looking for interested GP practices based in Warwickshire or Worcestershire to get involved by writing to smokers and offering them our support.

Those using the NHS Stop Smoking Service are four times more likely to quit than those that quit alone, but the majority will still return to smoking. Nicotine preloading is the use of nicotine patches by smokers before quitting, whilst smoking as usual.

Preloading is a large multi-centre trial, recruiting through centres in the West Midlands, Nottingham, Bristol and London. We specifically need GP practices based in Warwickshire or Worcestershire to write to smokers inviting them to participate. Eligible participants will be randomised, either to receive four weeks of nicotine patch preloading, or not. The research team will need to see participants for two weeks at their practice before referring them to their local NHS Stop Smoking Service (which may already operate in their practice) for standard support. Our primary outcome measure is the participant’s smoking status at six month follow-up. The research team will need to see participants claiming to be abstinent at six and 12 month follow-ups, at their practice.

Participating practices will be required to write to their registered smokers to invite them to the study and provide a room for use by our researchers one day (or morning/afternoon) a week. All of your costs will be covered, and the study could help your patients to give up smoking. If you are based in Warwickshire or Worcestershire and would like to be involved then please contact:

For further details please contact Shahnaz Kausar (trial administrator) email preloading@contacts.bham.ac.uk , phone 0121 415 8019 or Elaine Butcher, research nurse e.butcher@warwick.ac.uk mob. 07867 468 556