Exclusive: 5.5% of gambling-related harm patients circumvent self-exclusion measures
New data reveals 65% of people undergoing treatment can’t afford gambling spend
Up to 5.5% of people suffering from gambling-related harm and receiving treatment were still gambling after self-excluding, EGR can exclusively reveal.
According to the latest data from AnonyMind, several patients admitted for treatment and support for their gambling-related harm continued to gamble, via both unlicensed sites, finding ways to evade self-exclusion process or using friends and family to gamble for them.
Speaking to EGR, AnonyMind COO Andy Atha said: “If I was looking at what was the most concerning figure in the report, it would be that without a shadow of a doubt. Clearly these are individuals who have recognised their issues but are changing their behaviours to find a way around it. There is no doubting that is a scary number.”
Additionally, according to the report, 65% of patients confirmed they couldn’t afford their gambling spend.
More than 10% of patients were regularly gambling between midnight and 4am, citing significant time lost from their lives.
Elsewhere, looking at gambling-related harm via vertical, 12% of those undergoing treatment said they only took part in sports betting.
Of these patients, 91% were male, 29% only used retail outlets and 24% described themselves as vulnerable.
In terms of online betting and gaming, it was found 19% of players were under the age of 21 when they began betting, while 36% were women.
Over the first three months of 2021, AnonyMind delivered more than 1,110 therapy hours.
The treatment provider also noted a significant increase in new registrations during Cheltenham Festival, with a total of 278 new patient registrations during Q1.
AnonyMind noted it had managed to bring down the average problem gambling severity index (PGSI) of each patient from 16.04 at the beginning of treatment to just 6.43 by the end.