THE row about whether e-cigarettes are good for smokers is set to rumble into the New Year.

In 2016, for the first time, doctors will be able to prescribe e-cigs on the NHS. Ministers are reported to have tried to keep this quiet as they fear GPs could be overrun by people wanting them, and I suspect they’re right.

This move is apparently going to cost the NHS around £20 per kit and £10 a week for each patient’s cartridges. It’s bound to make non-smokers disgruntled about the extra costs to our already cash-strapped health service but it really does seem better value in the long-term.

If e-cigs help prevent even a proportion of chronic smoking-related illnesses this equates to huge savings in NHS costs eventually. Fewer individuals will need such treatment which will free up beds and services.

It’s genuinely not a smoke-screen – e-cigs really do seem to work.