NHS director accuses gambling industry of “predatory techniques”
Claire Murdoch criticises what she sees as laissez-faire response to rising NHS referrals for gambling addiction
A leading NHS director has said the gambling industry deploys “predatory techniques” that directly correlate to gambling-related harm, in damning remarks made on social media.
Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national mental health director and CEO of the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, has been an outspoken critic of the industry in the past.
Murdoch’s comments came after she was involved in a Twitter spat with Daily Telegraph columnist Christopher Snowdon.
Snowdown threw scorn on reports of increases in NHS treatment for gambling addiction, arguing that the construction of new gambling addiction clinics was the only correlation.
Murdoch took exception to his comments and replied: “The people suffering from gambling addiction are too many; the industry uses predatory techniques and invests a fortune in nudging and stoking behaviours that cause harm.”
The crux of the argument came as reports showed referrals for treatment for gambling addiction were up 42% between April and September this year compared to the same period in 2021.
The NHS has also committed to opening two new gambling addiction centres in Southampton and Stoke.
Additionally, gambling addiction treatment providers, the UK Addiction Treatment Group, have reported a sharp increase in outreach from those suffering from gambling-related harm.
The group noted 3,168 hits on its gambling addiction support webpage between 1 January 2020 and 23 November 2020.
This number has rocketed by a staggering 195% to 9,356 hits in the same time period this year.
One of UK Addiction Treatment Group’s counsellors, Nuno Albuquerque, said: “The gambling industry is pocketing billions while this country crumbles under the cost-of-living crisis.
“Some people think that desperate times call for desperate measures, and it’s a real concern of ours that more people will turn to gambling and other compulsive behaviours in a bid to make ends meet, but ultimately they’re risking losing money they simply can’t afford to lose,” he added.