Gambling addicts aged just 13 to get new clinic to help them tackle the problem
KIDS as young as 13 addicted to gambling are getting a dedicated NHS service to help them kick the habit.
Launching the first children’s clinic, health boss Simon Stevens warned that betting firms could be taxed to foot the treatment bill.
The NHS England chief exec said it was wrong for the public to pay for the growing crisis.
The Gambling Commission estimates 55,000 kids aged 11 to 16 are problem gamblers, with online sites and social media ads fuelling the epidemic.
The number of affected children has quadrupled in just two years.
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The new service, for 13 to 25-year-olds, will be based at the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London.
Up to 14 more betting addiction clinics, initially focusing on adults, are expected to open within two years.
They will be staffed by psychiatrists and psychologists specialising in compulsive behaviour, self-harm and substance misuse.
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Mr Stevens said: “This is an industry that splashes £1.5billion on marketing and advertising campaigns, but it has been spending just a fraction of that . . . dealing with the direct consequences of addiction.”
Regulator the Gambling Commission says a compulsory levy must aim to raise at least £70million a year.
Bookies have offered to increase contributions to help problem gamblers.
Health boss Simon Stevens warned that betting firms could be taxed to foot the treatment bill
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