NHS severs links with GambleAware over industry connection concerns
The NHS has severed its links with the charity GambleAware due to concerns over its connections to the gambling industry.
Announcing two new clinics to deal with record demand for gambling addiction services in England, the mental health director of the NHS, Claire Murdoch, decried the “predatory tactics” of gambling companies.
The decision comes as the health service begins to distance itself from an industry that officials believe is causing serious damage to the nation’s mental health.
“Gambling addiction is a cruel mental health condition that can devastate people’s lives,” Murdoch said. “It is also absolutely right that the NHS now funds these clinics independently, recognising the harmful effects this addiction can have, and that predatory tactics from gambling companies are part of the problem, not the solution.”
According to NHS England figures, 668 people suffering with severe addiction issues were referred to gambling clinics between April and December last year, a 16.2% increase on the575 referrals made during the same period in 2020.
Writing separately to the CEO of GambleAware, Zoë Osmond, Murdoch said the move had been made after assessing complaints from patients and doctors.
“Our decision has been heavily influenced by patients who have previously expressed concern about using services paid for directly by industry,” she wrote. “Additionally, our clinicians feel there are conflicts of interest in their clinics being part-funded by resources from the gambling industry.”
GambleAware, which describes itself as “an independent, grant-making charity commissioning prevention and treatment services” is funded almost entirely by donations from the gambling industry.
Last year it announced a three-year funding arrangement
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