NHS Stops taking Gambling Funds To Treat Addiction
19 February 2022
The NHS will stop taking cash from the gambling industry to deal with people 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 gaming services from 1 April.
The gambling industry paid ₤ 16m to GambleAware in between April and December to assist fund treatment services.
Of this, ₤ 1.2 m was awarded in grants to NHS-run gaming centers.
But Ms Murdoch said clients were unpleasant about utilizing services spent for by the betting market - and she stated that had "heavily affected" her choice to decline future funding from GambleAware.
She said industry funding "has actually enabled us to roll out treatment services much faster than would have otherwise been possible", however there was a desire to move the funding into general NHS financing.
"Additionally, our clinicians feel there are conflicts of interest in their centers being part-funded by resources from the betting industry," Ms Murdoch composed.
It comes less than a year after Ms Murdoch informed the Guardian, external that betting firms should be hit with a required levy to fund treatment, as the NHS had actually been left to "pick up the pieces".
'I 'd gamble on the school run and on the bus'
Teenagers 'bombarded by gambling ads'
In her newest letter to GambleAware, she said the health service can not address the "harms" brought by gambling 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 develop a treatment system that is "suitable for function".
Last year, the overall voluntary promises to GambleAware consisted of ₤ 1m from William Hill, ₤ 4m from Entain and just over ₤ 4m from Bet365.
19 February 2022
The NHS will stop taking cash from the gambling industry to deal with people 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 gaming services from 1 April.
The gambling industry paid ₤ 16m to GambleAware in between April and December to assist fund treatment services.
Of this, ₤ 1.2 m was awarded in grants to NHS-run gaming centers.
But Ms Murdoch said clients were unpleasant about utilizing services spent for by the betting market - and she stated that had "heavily affected" her choice to decline future funding from GambleAware.
She said industry funding "has actually enabled us to roll out treatment services much faster than would have otherwise been possible", however there was a desire to move the funding into general NHS financing.
"Additionally, our clinicians feel there are conflicts of interest in their centers being part-funded by resources from the betting industry," Ms Murdoch composed.
It comes less than a year after Ms Murdoch informed the Guardian, external that betting firms should be hit with a required levy to fund treatment, as the NHS had actually been left to "pick up the pieces".
'I 'd gamble on the school run and on the bus'
Teenagers 'bombarded by gambling ads'
In her newest letter to GambleAware, she said the health service can not address the "harms" brought by gambling 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 develop a treatment system that is "suitable for function".
Last year, the overall voluntary promises to GambleAware consisted of ₤ 1m from William Hill, ₤ 4m from Entain and just over ₤ 4m from Bet365.