NHS Stops taking Gambling Funds To Treat Addiction
19 February 2022
The NHS will stop taking money from the gambling industry to treat people with addiction, the NHS England nationwide mental health director has stated.
Writing to charity GambleAware, Claire Murdoch stated the NHS would rather money its own betting services from 1 April.
The betting industry paid ₤ 16m to GambleAware between April and December to help fund treatment services.
Of this, ₤ 1.2 m was granted in grants to NHS-run gambling clinics.
But Ms Murdoch stated clients were unpleasant about using services paid for by the gambling market - and she stated that had "heavily affected" her choice to turn down future financing from GambleAware.
She stated market financing "has allowed us to present treatment services faster than would have otherwise been possible", but there was a desire to move the funding into general NHS financing.
"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 betting firms must be struck with an obligatory levy to fund treatment, as the NHS had been delegated "get the pieces".
'I 'd gamble on the school run and on the bus'
Teenagers 'bombarded by gambling advertisements'
In her newest letter to GambleAware, she stated the health service can not address 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 function".
Last year, the total 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 money from the gambling industry to treat people with addiction, the NHS England nationwide mental health director has stated.
Writing to charity GambleAware, Claire Murdoch stated the NHS would rather money its own betting services from 1 April.
The betting industry paid ₤ 16m to GambleAware between April and December to help fund treatment services.
Of this, ₤ 1.2 m was granted in grants to NHS-run gambling clinics.
But Ms Murdoch stated clients were unpleasant about using services paid for by the gambling market - and she stated that had "heavily affected" her choice to turn down future financing from GambleAware.
She stated market financing "has allowed us to present treatment services faster than would have otherwise been possible", but there was a desire to move the funding into general NHS financing.
"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 betting firms must be struck with an obligatory levy to fund treatment, as the NHS had been delegated "get the pieces".
'I 'd gamble on the school run and on the bus'
Teenagers 'bombarded by gambling advertisements'
In her newest letter to GambleAware, she stated the health service can not address 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 function".
Last year, the total voluntary promises to GambleAware consisted of ₤ 1m from William Hill, ₤ 4m from Entain and just over ₤ 4m from Bet365.