19 February 2022

The NHS will stop taking money from the betting industry to deal with individuals with addiction, the NHS England national mental health director has said.

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

the yohaig code gaming market paid ₤ 16m to GambleAware in between April and December to help fund treatment services.

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

But Ms Murdoch stated patients were uneasy about using services paid for by the gambling industry - and she said that had actually "greatly affected" her decision to turn down future funding from GambleAware.

She stated industry funding "has actually allowed us to present treatment services quicker than would have otherwise been possible", however there was a desire to move the financing into general NHS financing.

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

It comes less than a year after Ms Murdoch told the Guardian, external that betting firms ought to be struck with a compulsory levy to fund treatment, as the NHS had actually been left to "select up the pieces".

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In her newest letter to GambleAware, she stated the health service can not deal with the "harms" brought by betting alone, and neither is it the NHS's "task" to do so.

Ms Murdoch stated the NHS would continue to work closely with GambleAware to establish a treatment system that is "suitable for purpose".

Last year, the general voluntary pledges to GambleAware consisted of ₤ 1m from William Hill, ₤ 4m from Entain and just over ₤ 4m from Bet365.

In addition to the NHS treatment centres, that money is utilized to fund the 24-hour National Gambling Helpline.

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

Two brand-new gaming dependency clinics will open in Southampton and Stoke from May, bringing the number of specialist clinics in England to 7.

According to NHS England, between April and December in 2015, 668 individuals with the most severe gaming addiction issues were referred to NHS specialist clinics.

That is a 16.2% boost from 575 during the exact same period in 2020.

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

A representative for the Betting and Gaming Council said the betting market has been a "majority funder" of research, education and treatment for betting damage for more than twenty years.

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

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Addiction

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