Compulsive gambling should be recognised as an addiction that requires treatment on the NHS, doctors leaders said yesterday, as they warned of a sharp increase in problem betting.
The "explosion" in internet betting sites and the overhaul of the gambling laws, which comes into force in September, means the number of people who gamble is expected to escalate.
But GPs receive no training in how to spot gamblers and are probably unaware of them, according to a hard-hitting report by doctors at the British Medical Association (BMA), which anticipates a "very significant rise in problem gambling".
Many addiction services fail to screen people for gambling, and even when the problem is recognised there is "almost no treatment", says the BMA's board of science in the report.
It also calls on the £9bn gaming industry to contribute at least £10m a year for treatment. And in a separate report, police warned that planned supercasinos would cause an escalation in crime and anti-social behaviour.
Doctors should screen patients being treated for other addictions, such as smoking or alcohol, and should question whether children known to play truant also have gambling problems.
The report calls for a review of the law on slot machines and suggests banning anyone under 18 from using them. Research shows that 17% of adolescents play fruit machines at least once a week, and that up to 6% of adolescent fruit machine players are "pathological gamblers".
While seven out of 10 people gamble, the report identifies 300,000 adults as problem gamblers. But the figure dates to 2000, before the rise of gambling websites. There are now around a million online gamblers in the UK, with women - who account for a quarter of gamblers - set to match men within 20 years.
Launching the report, the BMA's head of science and ethics, Vivienne Nathanson said: "Problem gambling is associated with a number of health problems and the BMA is concerned that there are insufficient treatment facilities available. Psychological problems can include anxiety, depression, guilt and suicidal thoughts. There needs to be treatment for problem gambling available on the NHS similar to drug and alcohol services.
"Doctors should be thinking about problem gambling when they see other addictions. They should also link it with other problem behaviours in adolescents, such as truanting. We can't afford to wait and see if the numbers spiral upwards, as is predicted by every expert in the area."
The report's co-author, Mark Griffiths, professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University, said gambling had only been recognised as an addiction since the 1980s.
"GPs routinely ask how much people drink or smoke, and if they take illicit drugs, but they never ask about gambling. Last year's government white paper on health didn't even mention it. The NHS as an entity hasn't recognised gambling as an addiction."
Provision of treatment on the NHS is currently "patchy".
Gamblers Anonymous would not discuss government provisions, but one recovering compulsive gambler said the NHS faced a dilemma. "If you say should they spend the money on Herceptin for a woman with breast cancer, or on a compulsive gambler, it should go to the woman with the cancer."
A Department of Health spokeswoman said the decision to provide treatment was down to each trust. "Anybody with a gambling problem who seeks help from the NHS will be offered support and, if necessary, treatment to help them overcome their addiction," she said.
But the Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster said: "This report highlights just how inadequate the government's approach to services for gambling addiction has been."
