The NHS is struggling to meet the growing demand for its gambling addiction services as the number of referrals skyrockets. The story highlights the devastating consequences of gambling addiction through the experience of Pauline Leeming, who lost her husband, her family home, and served time in prison due to her addiction to online slots.
The NHS says the number of people referred to its gambling addiction services has soared as it faces an 'uphill battle' to meet demand
“I didn’t have half a million to blow, obviously. But in six months, I’d managed to get six loans, all at about 20 grand,” she told“I was taking company funds to try and get out of the mess that nobody knew about. And because I was taking money out of the company, I then falsified the accounts so that my husband wouldn’t find out.”
Despite the divorce and although his first reaction was anger, the 45-year-old says her husband tried to understand. “Obviously he had to hand over the books and stuff for the accountant, so he had to explain to HMRC why I fiddled some of the invoices,” she said. According to the Commission’s latest survey, 48 percent of adults had gambled in the last four weeks. Excluding those who only participated in the National Lottery, the figure is 28 percent.
“One of the stipulations on my release papers for probation was that I wasn’t allowed to enter any gambling facilities, but that wasn’t my issue anyway because it was all on my phone online,” she says.She contacted the gambling charity Gordon Moody in June 2023 and was admitted to a six-week rehab centre in the July, which was followed up by a three-month intensive aftercare programme.
It wasn’t the first time Leeming tried to get help from the NHS. She first contacted them at the same time as Gordon Moody, but went to the mental health services, unaware there were actually specialist gambling clinics. Since she had already completed a Gordon Moody residential course, the NHS Gambling Centre said a lot of the content they would initially offer a new patient wouldn’t be worthwhile. “They were very good in that they more or less tailor-made my experience to me,” Leeming says.
“It’s difficult because it’s a disease,” she says. “So I still need to do weekly GA… it’s like my medicine. I definitely would struggle if I wasn’t using any other tools or support.” “When I was old enough to start going into bookmakers myself it was like a different world. I just wanted to be there all the time,” Hart says.He says by the age of 16 he had developed a “real passion for horse racing” which became overpowered by betting.
“I can remember lying in my bed and I literally had 73 pence in my bank account. Everything was gone because of gambling and I said to myself, I cannot carry on like this, I cannot continue or keep living the life I’m living,” he says.
Gambling Addiction NHS Mental Health Addiction Impact
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