Gambling Harms Strategy: Feedback from those with Lived Experience

Gambling harm has been identified as a key area that Hertfordshire County Council seeks to address from a public health perspective. Hertfordshire County Council’s Public Health team and the Hertfordshire Gambling Harms Alliance felt it was imperative for experts by experience to be involved in the early stages of drafting the Gambling Harms Strategy to ensure their lived experience informs the strategic priorities and actions required to reduce gambling harms in Hertfordshire.  They asked Healthwatch Hertfordshire to make this happen.  They undertook focus groups and interviews in May and June 2024, with 18 people taking part.

Participants shared their experiences of gambling harms and the impact it has had on themselves, as well as their relationships, livelihood and finances. Participants shared that their gambling addiction had a significant impact on their mental health, with a few participants even experiencing suicidal thoughts. Many participants also found themselves in financial strain which often exacerbated their poor mental health.

Participants felt that the public was not aware of the negative impacts gambling can have. Participants said gambling is often considered “harmless fun” and an embedded part of our culture – they gave examples such as going to the races, betting on sports, playing on fruit machines, and buying lottery tickets. They felt the stigma of being a problem gambler.

Participants argued that professionals often do not have an adequate understanding of gambling harms and agreed a priority should be to improve and increase awareness amongst professionals. This would help them identify when people need help.

When asked about which groups could be vulnerable to gambling harms, most participants felt there is not a specific group that is more at risk and argued that anyone could be susceptible to gambling harms. However, some participants did identify some groups that they felt could be at increased risk of gambling harms. These were:

• Children and young people
• People who lived in deprived areas or on low incomes
• Young men and increasingly women
• Ethnic minority groups
• Carers

Participants agreed it would be valuable to increase data and evaluation measures, so there is more local and national data about gambling, those affected by gambling, and the scale of the problem. Participants suggested having this data would also enable decision-makers to assess where and how support needs to be targeted.

Influencing the licensing and regulatory environment was the most important priority for participants, and they felt it should be the first listed priority in the Gambling Harms Strategy. They argued that there is a lot more the government can do in terms of lobbying, changing attitudes, and increasing restrictions, and that the monitoring of gambling should be far more regulated, including access, advertising, restrictions and self exclusion.

People wanted access to effective treatment and support. A key barrier preventing participants from accessing support for their gambling harms was a lack of awareness. Many shared that they did not know who to contact or where to go for support and were not aware of what types of support existed.  Most that did access it found support via an online search.

All participants felt the provision of effective treatment and support was an important priority, with many commenting that there are not enough support services in place to support those at high risk of or experiencing gambling harms.  Those that did get help felt it was excellent.

Only two participants had contacted their GP for support with their gambling – in which one person received good support while the other felt their problems were “brushed aside”. However, the majority of participants expressed that most people would not consider visiting their GP for support with their gambling.  They felt GPs should play a more proactive role in supporting people experiencing gambling harms.

Participants also called for more support to be offered to those affected by other’s gambling. Many said they were not aware of the support available and/or did not consider themselves to be an affected other, both of which prevented them from getting the help they needed.