19 February 2022

The NHS will stop taking money from the gambling industry to deal with individuals with dependency, the NHS England national psychological health director has stated.

Writing to charity GambleAware, Claire Murdoch stated the NHS would rather money its own betting services from 1 April.

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

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

But Ms Murdoch stated clients were uneasy about utilizing services paid for by the gaming market - and she stated that had "greatly influenced" her decision to turn down future financing from GambleAware.

She said market funding "has allowed us to roll out treatment services much faster than would have otherwise been possible", but there was a desire to move the funding into general NHS funding.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The NHS is dealing with increasing need to help issue bettors.

Two brand-new betting addiction centers will open in Southampton and Stoke from May, bringing the number of expert centers in England to 7.

According to NHS England, between April and December last year, 668 people with the most extreme gaming dependency problems were described NHS professional clinics.

That is a 16.2% boost 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 actually been a "bulk funder" of research study, 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 likely to have some kind of betting addiction, with 2.2 million at risk.

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