Treatment and Support Provision

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GamHarm do not provide direct treatment for individuals experiencing Gambling Disorder. It is our firm belief that as a verified and diagnosable mental disorder all treatment should be accessed through, and provided by, medically qualified professionals as part of a well funded and issue aware Public Health strategy. 

The UK does currently have a good range of treatment options available and with the roll out of the National Gambling Support Network it should be possible for all individuals requiring clinical support, such as counselling or intense residential treatment, to be able to receive it free of charge, whether provided directly by the National Health Service (NHS) or through support from specialist 3rd sector providers.

It is currently a time of great change in the treatment and support sector, with more still likely to occur following the ongoing consultations surrounding the UK Government's White Paper on gambling reform ("High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age"). The good news for our clients is that GamHarm are well placed to keep them up to date on the latest developments due to our close working relationship with many of the significant stakeholders, as well as through our active involvement in consultations and strategy development processes across the gambling harms sector.

The good news is that there are positive signs of real change coming about. The UK Gambling Commission themselves favour a public health approach and (prior to being disbanded and disseminated into the new UK Health Security Agency and also the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) Public Health England had been working alongside the National Institute for Health Research to carry out a study into the public health impacts of gambling harms with a view to adopting recommendations into future strategic Public Health policy. Public Health Scotland are also looking into the area and have been closely involved in a pilot scheme based in Glasgow, as part of the Glasgow Reducing Gambling Harms initiative, to try and determine how the treatment of Gambling Harms can be integrated into current support infrastructures.

GamHarm can support organisations with their own role in implementing any future joint Public Health strategy who are seeking to improve their current knowledge base and review their customer focussed practices in order to be better Gambling Harms informed. 

GamHarm already work with several treatment providers and NGSN stakeholders which means that we really do understand the treatment and support environment. It also means that we are in an excellent position to be able to assist organisations in creating internal referral pathways to existing and future treatment provision services.

The regional delivery structure of the new National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) means that treatment and support services accessed through the NGSN are delivered by many partner organisations (currently 11+ and counting). The providers listed below represent just those partners who currently have a national remit for delivery. If your own organisation has distinct geographical remit and would like to know about services local to your own organisation then GamHarm are happy to help.

For individuals seeking support the following organisations are a good starting place although GamHarm would still advise contacting your local GP in the first instance if seeking treatment.