Award

National Gambling Helpline

NHS ENGLAND

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

13 May 2026 at 14:28

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

NHS England has completed a direct award contract for the National Gambling Helpline, a service within the health and addiction treatment category. This contract, valued at £14.5 million, is part of a broader plan following the introduction of the Statutory Gambling Levy, with NHS England taking responsibility for gambling harms treatment pathways. The procurement involves maintaining the service provided by GamCare, a VCSE organisation based in London. The contract ensures the continuity of the helpline's multi-channel access and support, which is crucial for stabilising the service as responsibilities shift from GambleAware. The contract period starts on 29th May 2026 and runs until 31st March 2027, with a 12-month extension option available, ensuring system stability during the transition. Key procurement classifications include the necessity of GamCare's expertise and ownership of the established national helpline, which is critical for preventing disruptions in service access.

This tender offers business growth opportunities primarily for large organisations with expertise in health services, specifically within addiction treatment. Businesses with established infrastructure and experience in providing comprehensive support and referral systems would excel in this environment. The direct award to GamCare highlights the importance of retaining specific capabilities and existing branding, which suggests potential strategic partnership opportunities for businesses looking to collaborate with a leading service provider. Opportunities may exist for expanding related services or innovating within interoperable support frameworks, particularly for businesses with a focus on digital health solutions, seamless referral systems, or those capable of contributing to a robust gambling harms treatment infrastructure.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

National Gambling Helpline

Notice Description

The introduction of the Statutory Gambling Levy in October 2025 resulted in NHS England becoming responsible responsible for commissioning the gambling harms treatment pathway, from referral and triage through to aftercare, as of 1st April 2026. The National Gambling Helpline, delivered by GamCare, a VCSE organisation, is an established, live service providing multi-channel access (including telephone, email, WhatsApp and online) and plays an integral role in the treatment system as a primary referral route into treatment and support services. GamCare owns the established national helpline number, which is extensively embedded across marketing and referral routes used by gambling operators, financial institutions, local authorities and VCSE providers. Maintaining continuity of this access route is critical, as changes would require extensive engagement and lead time, with potential disruption to patient access and referral flows. The requirement is limited to continuation of the existing service to ensure system stability during transition to future commissioning arrangements.

Procurement Information

As well as providing 24/7 access to advice and onward referral/signposting, the National Gambling Helpline also offers brief interventions and a range of web-based self-help and support tools specific to gambling harms (not available elsewhere). They have a workforce with expertise in gambling harms, including lived experience, which NHSE is keen to retain to ensure the outcome and quality of the service, particularly given that there is limited expertise in this area. GamCare owns the phone number for the National Gambling Helpline which is extensively advertised on marketing materials by a wide range of organisations, including gambling operators, financial services, local authorities and other VCSE providers. Changing this phone number would require extensive engagement, including consultation with gambling operators via the Gambling Commission, and a considerable lead time. Additionally, a key and unique component of the National Gambling Helpline is their 'warm transfer' service from gambling operators and financial services, and to other VCSE service providers. This has specific interoperability requirements to ensure the proper functioning of the service. Incompatibility between systems would result in costly, time consuming and complex redesign and modification which would be unacceptable to our strategic objective of a "smooth transition" to the new treatment system and cause potentially harmful delays in patients accessing treatment services.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0697fb
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/044042-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

33 - Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

33693300 - Addiction treatment

85100000 - Health services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£14,500,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
13 May 2026Yesterday
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
13 May 2026Yesterday
Contract Period
28 May 2026 - 31 Mar 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NHS ENGLAND
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SE1 8UG
Post Town
South East London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI45 Lambeth
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Lambeth
Electoral Ward
Waterloo & South Bank
Westminster Constituency
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

GAMCARE

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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