NHS England Warns Gambling Fans About the Rising Number of People Who Seek Help

The National Health Service (NHS) in England is the responsible authority for people with gambling problems in the country. Amanda Pritchard, which is the person in charge, has reported that a record number of people are looking for help with their gambling addiction in the country. This may not come as a surprise, considering the number of operators and how easy it is to start using a given site.

Although things like the Betway app have features that support responsible gambling, many companies haven’t done anything in this department. Consequently, some bettors do not know what to be aware of when gambling and they can have a lot of problems in the long run. That said, we may see legislative changes soon, especially after the NHS’s report.

Speaking of the devil, Amanda Pritchard also said that children and adults have been bombarded with ads. Since this has led to even more problems with gambling, the NHS will increase its support for people who have those problems.

The data and new clinics

The stats from the NHS reveal that more than 1389 patients needed help in 2022, whereas the number in 2021 was a little over 1000. What’s troublesome is that the number for two years prior is just 775, meaning 2023 may double that number.

Due to the increasing number of people who have problems with gambling, the NHS will launch several new gambling clinics that will try to help those with problems. What’s interesting is that this decision was announced just a few days following the disturbing report of a father of two who died. According to the data, the person’s gambling disorder contributed to it because he lost a lot of money while using a gambling operator.

Due to what happened with this person and the overall problems that many people have with gambling, there will be new NHS clinics. They will be located in the following places:

Sheffield

Briston

Thurrock

Milton Keynes

Liverpool

Blackpool

Derby

Of course, the fact that there are new clinics doesn’t mean that the old ones will stop working. On the contrary, people who have problems with gambling and need help can find clinics in London, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, and more.

The idea behind all clinics is to help as many people as possible. The NHS wants to treat as many as 3000 patients every year. To help patients, the clinics will have therapists, psychiatrists, and psychologists. Those with serious gambling problems will have access to things like family therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, support groups, and more.

The changes to the gambling industry and the effects on people

Amanda Pritchard said a lot of interesting things that some people may not be aware of. The NHS was founded in 1948, but back then, the only way for people to palace bets was by visiting bookmakers. Today, things are very different because there are tons of online betting operators. What’s more, people don’t even need to use a computer any more because everything is available at the tip of their fingers.

Besides the fact it is really easy to gamble, another thing that impacts the number of people who place bets is the different gambling ads. People are bombarded with ads everywhere they go, and gambling websites sponsor some of the biggest football clubs in the country. Consequently, developing a gambling problem has never been easier.

People who think that they may have a problem can always contact the NHS for help.

The future

The data shown by the NHS reveals that the number of people who need help with gambling increases every year. Hence, it should not come as a surprise that a lot of people are urging the UK government to make some changes. This became even more apparent following the recent news about three clubs from the Premier League and their decision to sign sponsorship deals with large betting firms.

It seems like people’s growing concerns may have an effect because the health minister said that the government has plans. One of them may include a special tax system or something similar that will require gambling firms to help with treatment. In fact, the government proposed a lot of other things in April this year, including a maximum stake limit of 2 GBP per slot spin for younger gamblers.

It will be very interesting to keep an eye on what’s going to happen in the UK because this is one of the leading countries for online gambling. We have to remember that the UKGC announced the ban on credit cards used for online gambling a few years ago, but it seems like this was just one of the many actions to regulate this industry.

What can gambling websites do to help?

Considering the business model of online gambling, operators have to be innovative and think of new ways they can help without hurting their business. Until the UK government announces the new regulations that they must adhere to, online bookmakers and casinos can provide their clients with different kinds of features for responsible gambling.

If we take a look at many of the big names in the business, we can see that they have options like deposit limits. The latter allows users to control their spending by limiting the amount they can deposit per day or week.

Some sites also have special time-out features that will prohibit users from gambling after spending a certain amount of time. These features are also available on handheld devices, so people can control how much time they spend playing.

One of the biggest problems is that gambling ads also reach out to kids who are not aware of the risks associated with gambling. Therefore, companies have to be extremely careful with their marketing campaigns because they can get in trouble. Keep in mind that gambling is still not allowed in many parts of the world, and if the situation keeps getting worse, the UK government may decide to take drastic measures.

- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com