Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the list of circumstances in which a registered medical professional has a duty to notify a relevant senior coroner of a death to include suicide as a result of problem gambling.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
Under the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019, registered medical practitioners are required to notify the coroner of a death in specified circumstances, which include cases of suspected self-harm or where the cause of death is unknown. As part of the notification process, the medical practitioner must tell the coroner which of the specified circumstances they believe apply to the death. The guidance for registered medical practitioners (published in September 2019 and available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notification-of-deaths-regulations-2019-guidance) makes clear that, in most cases, the practitioner should provide the coroner with a detailed narrative explanation of the likely cause of death.
In practice, therefore, a requirement already exists for cases of suspected suicide – which would include suicide as a result of problem gambling – to be notified to the coroner and, consequently, the Government has no plans to amend the 2019 Regulations in this regard.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a publicly accessible central record of the number of people who commit suicide for reasons connected with problem gambling.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
We presently have no such plans. There is currently no reliable estimate of the number of suicides linked to gambling addiction or problem gambling in the United Kingdom. The Government is committed to improving our understanding of the link between suicide and gambling.
GambleAware has commissioned some preliminary research into gambling-related suicide, which was published in July 2019, and the Department has invited GambleAware to return to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group to discuss the research findings and what further research may be needed in this area.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of Gambling disorder, increased mortality, suicidality, and associated comorbidity: A longitudinal nationwide register study, published in November 2018; and in particular its finding that problem gamblers are 15 times more likely to take their own lives.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Preventing suicide is a priority for Government, and we take new evidence on this matter very seriously.
The longitudinal study on gambling disorder in Sweden indicated increased mortality, suicidality, and associated comorbidity rates of other disorders, among those with a clinical diagnosis of gambling disorder. However, the report also indicated that the factors contributing to suicide are multifactorial, which make it difficult to isolate the role gambling played when weighted against other co-morbid factors. In particular, it noted that depression was a significant predictor of suicide death. The report Gambling Behaviour in Great Britain 2016, which is based on the Health Surveys, shows a clear correlation between poor mental health and problem gambling.
GambleAware has commissioned research to further our understanding of the links between problem gambling and suicide risk. This will include secondary analysis of the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey to explore the relationship between problem gambling and the experience of suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-harm among adults living in England. The government's Suicide Prevention Strategy, published in January this year, committed to improving research on factors related to suicide, such as debt and gambling addiction.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of suicides that were linked to gambling addiction or problem gambling from 2010 till 2018.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
There is currently no reliable estimate of the number of suicides linked to gambling addiction or problem gambling in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to commissioning research into gambling-related suicides to ensure that sufficient information is available about such deaths.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The charity GambleAware, which commissions research, education and treatment for problem gamblers, has established an expert steering group to help build a better shared understanding of gambling-related harms, chaired by the deputy chair of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB), expert advisers to the Gambling Commission.
RGSB recently published a paper mapping out methodology that could be used to quantify and monitor the social and economic impact of gambling-related harms.The proposed model details nine metrics across three key areas (resources, health and relationships), including the number of suicides and suicide attempts. As part of this work it will look at what research needs to be done and the paper sets out an initial proposal for secondary analysis of key survey datasets, to help to give insight into the relationship between self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and problem gambling.
The Department of Health and Social Care is also working with DCMS and other stakeholders to examine the issue of gambling-related suicide. Suicide prevention is a priority for Government and DHSC updated the National Suicide Prevention Strategy last year to strengthen its key areas for action.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the care available for families and individuals who are affected by suicides connected with gambling.
Answered by Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Providing better information and support to people bereaved by suicide is a key area for action in the Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy for England. Effective suicide bereavement services should be provided through local partnerships between local authorities, NHS organisations and voluntary and charitable sector providers. The NHS Choices website provides advice on accessing support for people who have been bereaved.
The charity GambleAware, which funds research, education and treatment for gambling addiction, has published a Strategic Delivery Plan for 2018-2020. This includes plans to commission specialist support for people who suffer bereavement because of the problem gambling of a family member or friend.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for additional independent research on the number of gambling related suicides in the UK.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The charity GambleAware, which commissions research, education and treatment for problem gamblers, has established an expert steering group to help build a better shared understanding of gambling-related harms, chaired by the deputy chair of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, expert advisers to the Gambling Commission. As part of this work it will look at what research needs to be done on suicide and suicidal ideation and it will shortly publish an initial paper for wider consultation.
The Department of Health and Social Care is also working with DCMS and other stakeholders to examine the issue of gambling-related suicide. Suicide prevention is a priority for Government and DHSC updated the National Suicide Prevention Strategy last year to strengthen its key areas for action.
Asked by: Lord Chadlington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of annual gambling-related suicides in the UK; and what plans they have, if any, to conduct further research in this area.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Data on the cause of death in cases of suicide is not recorded centrally with a level of granularity that would list gambling as a factor. Government therefore does not have an estimate of the number of suicides each year where gambling is involved.
The government takes suicide prevention very seriously and updated the Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2017. We are also encouraging Local Authorities to implement prevention plans to provide support at a local level.
A focus on reducing gambling-related harm, protecting the vulnerable and making sure that those experiencing problems are getting the help they need is key to the government Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility. The consultation closed on 23 January, and we will publish our response in due course.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, columns 511-2W, on death, what the prevalence of adults living in private households in England having at least one psychiatric condition was in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Norman Lamb
The Answer of 21 November 2012, Official Report, columns 511-2W contains the latest data. The following table shows the estimated prevalence of adults living in private households in England having at least one psychiatric condition1.
Age range | Adults meeting the criteria for, or screening positive for, one or more psychiatric condition 1, 2 |
16-24 | 32.3 |
25-34 | 30.0 |
35-44 | 22.9 |
45-54 | 25.0 |
55-64 | 18.7 |
65-74 | 12.7 |
75+ | 10.5 |
Percentage all | 23.0 |
1 'Psychiatric conditions' include the most common mental disorders (namely anxiety and depressive disorders) as well as: psychotic disorder; antisocial and borderline personality disorders; eating disorder; posttraumatic stress disorder; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; alcohol and drug dependency; and problem behaviours such as problem gambling and suicide attempts. These are defined according to different classification criteria and refer to a variety of different, reference periods, as detailed in the background information provided. Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder was defined following the exclusion of other common mental disorders.
2 Figures above were calculated by subtracting the prevalence of adults with no psychiatric condition from 100.
Note: This table is an excerpt from Table 12.1 in Chapter 12 (Co-morbidity) of the APMS 2007 report: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/psychiatricmorbidity07
Source: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity (APMS) Survey 2007. |
The Department has commissioned the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Leicester to undertake the 2014 Adult Psychological Morbidity Survey.