Problem gambling clinics launched
Updated on 25 November 2008
The first NHS clinic to treat problem gamblers opens on Tuesday.
The National Problem Gambling Clinic, in Soho, west London, will be trialled for 12 months but has already attracted a high level of interest, the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) said.
Staff at the multi-disciplinary clinic include psychiatrists, psychologists, family therapists, debt management experts from the Citizens Advice Bureau and other specialist therapists.
The clinic's lead consultant psychiatrist, Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, said: "We have developed a unique treatment package to address specific difficulties that are common to problem gamblers. Due to the nature of their addiction, gamblers' finances are often in bad shape so an important part of treatment is to tackle debt management and employment issues.
"We also address the needs of clients' partners and family members who have been affected by their gambling disorder and any co-existing mental health conditions such as depression."
Patients will be treated with motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy alongside help with debt management.
More than 250,000 people in Britain are classed as problem gamblers, according to figures released last year by the Gambling Commission.
The British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007 said the figure was around 0.6% of the adult population - roughly the same percentage as the previous major study into gambling eight years previously. Problem gambling was more prevalent among men than women, and tended to be among younger age groups, the report said.
The highest rates were among people who did spread betting, at 14.7%, used fixed odds betting terminals, at 11.2%, and betting exchanges, at 9.8%.
Fewer people took part in these forms of gambling, which might have caused the problem gambling rate to be higher, the Commission said. New forms of online gaming and betting were included in the survey for the first time. Overall, 6% of the population used the internet to gamble in the past year.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
