UK think tank pushes for national gambling database and public health approach

The Social Market Foundation (SMF), a notable UK think tank, has released a new set of recommendations framing problem gambling as a public health issue requiring systemic reform. The proposal follows the SMF's earlier call for higher taxes on Category B slot machines and comes after its previous influence on the Remote Gaming Tax increase enacted in April.

Under the SMF's vision, gambling harms should be tackled with the same urgency as alcohol misuse, drug addiction, and tobacco use. This would involve embedding gambling-related questions into standard patient assessments across the NHS and local health services, giving medical staff better tools to detect early warning signs before problems escalate.

The think tank argues that current support systems are largely reactive, leaving frontline workers without the means to identify risks proactively. It points to fragmented care, inconsistent local public health strategies, poor data sharing, and the absence of gambling from long-term planning as key barriers.

To address these gaps, the SMF proposes that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care guarantee nationwide access to adequate gambling treatment capacity. It also wants local councils to be legally mandated to include gambling harm in their public health policies, just as they are required to do for alcohol, drugs, and smoking. A central element of the plan is the creation of a national gambling database, which would collect data from all Integrated Care Boards on the extent of gambling harms and monitor treatment pathways.

A public health framing of gambling is not entirely new in the UK. Last year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued guidance recommending that GPs ask patients about gambling harms. The SMF notes that while only 2.7% of UK adults are classified as problem gamblers, prevention is critical to keeping that figure low. It cites international examples such as New Zealand, where the Ministry of Health has integrated gambling screening into everyday healthcare since 2023, and Norway, where a four-year plan involves bank staff and family counsellors.

The SMF observes that “there has been a gradual shift to viewing gambling-associated harms through a public health lens, but this approach is much less common than with other similar issues.” It adds that frontline health and third-sector services could play a bigger role in identifying harms, but current systems and processes often miss opportunities due to a knowledge-action gap, lack of expertise, and long waiting lists.