Call to end tactics fuelling gambling addiction

THE NHS’S mental health chief has called for bookmakers to end tactics that are helping fuel the UK’s gambling addiction crisis.

In a letter addressed to Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur and Betting And Gaming Council chair Brigid Simmonds, Claire Murdoch warned the health industry “should not be expected to pick up the pieces” from lives damaged by problem gambling.

Ms Murdoch said: “I am concerned that offering people who are losing vast sums of money free tickets, VIP experiences, and free bets, all proactively prompt people back into the vicious gambling cycle which many want to escape.

“For seven decades the NHS has adapted services in response to current challenges, but we should not be expected to pick up the pieces from lives damaged by avoidable harm.”

Ms Murdoch called on industry bosses to implement a number of harm-minimisation measures, including stopping the “targeting of high-loss customers” and ending “bet to view commercial deals which require a stake in exchange for sports streaming access”.

Writing in response, Ms Simmonds invited Ms Murdoch to meet with industry chief executives to discuss her concerns.

“We take our responsibility to our customers incredibly seriously and we are determined to raise standards and improve safer gambling,” Ms Simmonds wrote, before listing a range of measures introduced or being worked on by its members.