Doctors should ask people with a mental-health problem about their gambling habits to identify those who need help, draft health guidance says. It adds that with problem gamblers, GPs should discuss software to limit online gambling and talking therapy treatment at an early stage.
Patients can be referred to one of 12 NHS gambling-treatment clinics in England, with three more planned.
Some 300,000 UK adults are problem gamblers, a recent review found. And their addiction affects another 3.8 million people, including children.
Men are more likely to gamble than women, the review says, especially online, where 15% of men but only 4% of women gamble.
