NHS Stops taking Gambling Funds To Treat Addiction

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19 February 2022

The NHS will stop taking cash from the betting industry to deal with individuals with dependency, the NHS England national mental health director has stated.

Writing to charity GambleAware, Claire Murdoch said the NHS would instead fund its own gaming services from 1 April.

The betting industry paid ₤ 16m to GambleAware between April and December to assist fund treatment services.

Of this promotion code, ₤ 1.2 m was granted in grants to NHS-run betting centers.

But Ms Murdoch said patients were unpleasant about utilizing services paid for by the betting industry - and she stated that had actually "greatly influenced" her choice to turn down future financing from GambleAware.

She stated industry financing "has actually permitted us to roll out treatment services faster than would have otherwise been possible", however there was a desire to move the yohaig code financing into basic NHS funding.

"Additionally, our clinicians feel there are conflicts of interest in their clinics being part-funded by resources from the betting industry," Ms Murdoch wrote.

It comes less than a year after Ms Murdoch told the Guardian, external that betting firms must be struck with an obligatory levy to fund treatment, as the NHS had actually been delegated "get the pieces".

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In her most current letter to GambleAware, she stated the health service can not attend to the "damages" brought by betting alone, and neither is it the NHS's "job" to do so.

Ms Murdoch said the NHS would continue to work carefully with GambleAware to establish a treatment system that is "healthy for purpose".

In 2015, the overall voluntary pledges to GambleAware included ₤ 1m from William Hill, ₤ 4m from Entain and just over ₤ 4m from Bet365.

As well as the NHS treatment centres, that cash is used to money the 24-hour National Gambling Helpline.

The NHS is dealing with rising need to assist problem bettors.

Two brand-new betting dependency clinics will open in Southampton and Stoke from May, bringing the variety of expert clinics in England to 7.

According to NHS England, in between April and December last year, 668 individuals with the most severe betting dependency concerns were referred to NHS professional centers.

That is a 16.2% increase from 575 throughout the same duration in 2020.

The betting industry makes earnings of more than ₤ 14bn a year in the UK.

A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council stated the wagering market has been a "majority funder" of research, education and treatment for gambling harm for more than twenty years.

It is approximated that around 246,000 people - about 0.5% of the UK adult population - are most likely to have some form of gambling addiction, with 2.2 million at risk.