19 February 2022
The NHS will stop taking cash from the gaming industry to treat people with addiction, the NHS England nationwide mental health director has actually said.
Writing to charity GambleAware, Claire Murdoch said the NHS would rather fund its own gaming services from 1 April.
The gaming market paid ₤ 16m to GambleAware between April and December to help fund treatment services.
Of this promotion code, ₤ 1.2 m was granted in grants to NHS-run betting centers.
But Ms Murdoch stated patients were uncomfortable about utilizing services spent for by the gaming market - and she stated that had "greatly influenced" her choice to turn down future financing from GambleAware.
She said market funding "has actually enabled us to present treatment services much faster than would have otherwise been possible", however there was a desire to move the 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 market," Ms Murdoch wrote.
It comes less than a year after Ms Murdoch told the Guardian, external that gambling firms ought to be hit with a required levy to fund treatment, as the NHS had been left to "get the pieces".
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In her latest letter to GambleAware, she stated the health service can not attend to the "damages" brought by gambling 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".
In 2015, the total voluntary promises to GambleAware consisted of ₤ 1m from William Hill, ₤ 4m from Entain and simply over ₤ 4m from Bet365.
As well as the NHS treatment centres, that money is utilized to money the 24-hour National Gambling Helpline.
The NHS is facing rising need to assist problem bettors.
Two brand-new betting dependency centers will open in Southampton and Stoke from May, bringing the number of professional clinics in England to 7.
According to NHS England, between April and December last year, 668 people with the most serious gambling dependency concerns were described NHS professional centers.
That is a 16.2% increase from 575 during the same duration in 2020.
The gambling industry makes earnings of more than ₤ 14bn a year in the UK.
A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council said the wagering industry has actually been a "bulk funder" of research, education and treatment for gambling harm for more than 20 years.
It is approximated that around 246,000 individuals - about 0.5% of the UK adult population - are most likely to have some form of betting addiction, with 2.2 million at threat.
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