Gambling-related admissions to hospital have reached more than one a day, as the health service grapples with betting addiction across Britain.
There were 379 such admissions to hospital in 2018/19, up 28% on 2015/16, according to NHS Digital figures that include those diagnosed as having a “pathological” gambling addiction.
Gambling disorder is linked to compulsive behaviour, the risk of self-harm and substance misuse. It also occurs in conjunction with serious mental health difficulties, such as depression, anxiety and psychosis.
The north-west had the greatest number of admissions over the past year, followed by London. About a sixth of those admitted to hospital across England, Scotland and Wales were under 25 but it was unclear how many were children.
The number of children classed as having a gambling problem is 55,000, while 450,000 under-18s bet regularly, according to industry regulator the Gambling Commission.
Last week, the Royal Society for Public Health warned that betting-style features in video games, including loot boxes, are “polluting” young peoples’ lives and should be reclassified as gambling.
“Gambling disorder significantly impacts on a person’s mental health, increasing the risk of self harm and suicide,” said Matt Zarb-Cousin from gambling blocking software firm Gamban.
“We’re now at the point where more than one person every day in Britain has to be admitted to hospital as a result of gambling. It’s time to look properly at the types of gambling available and their role in causing such severe harm to people.”
Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said earlier this year: “The links between problem gambling and stress, depression and mental health problems are growing and there are too many stories of lives lost and families destroyed.”
He added: “This is an industry that splashes £1.5bn on marketing and advertising campaigns, much of it now pumped out online and through social media, but it has been spending just a fraction of that helping customers and their families deal with the direct consequences of addiction.”
The NHS opened the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London this year to provide young people specialist help to deal with betting addiction as part of an expansion of its treatment offering in the area.
The figures do not include patients who were diagnosed in a primary care setting, or who attended hospital as an outpatient.
The World Health Organization first recognised gambling disorder as a medical condition in 2000. In the UK, there are about 340,000 adult problem gamblers, 0.7% of the population, according to the Gambling Commission.
Bookmakers have closed dozens of shops on high streets and are increasingly pushing customers towards online betting, after stakes on fixed-odd betting terminals – described as the “crack cocaine” of gambling – were limited to £2 this year.
The gambling industry in the UK made £14.4bn in 2018/19 and Denise Coates, the multibillionaire founder of the gambling company Bet365, paid herself £323m last year.
More than half of people aged 16 or older in England gambled at some point during 2018, according to official figures.
