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Events, Partners, and Awards
September at PCGS
As autumn approaches, the NHS Primary Care Gambling Service (PCGS) has been busy. Attending events and awards ceremonies and building relationships with new and existing partners. All while continuing to offer free, confidential, person-centred support to our patients. Here we look back on the highlights of September.
Events
September was packed with outreach events and stakeholder talks. On 13 September we visited St John's Soup Kitchen and Food Bank in North London to talk with residents about gambling harm and our support. Thank you to lead volunteer Bea for inviting us, and to all the volunteers for their inspiring work in the community.
Next, we attended Queen Mary University of London's (QMUL) Wellbeing Fair for new students. Young people living away from home for the first time are at greater risk of gambling harm, so we're working with QMUL and other universities to raise awareness and make sure students know where to find support.
In the third week of September, we joined events hosted by our primary and secondary care partners. On 17 September we visited Mount Vernon Hospital in Hillingdon for a community health and wellbeing event, where we spoke directly with patients and met many excellent local organisations. It was great to learn about the services available in the area and to make new connections that will help us support our patients. Thank you to Denise for inviting us.
Finally, on 18 September, we visited Charlton Athletics' home ground for the Southeast London Workforce Development Hub's Education & Celebration Event for General Practice Nurses and Nursing Associates. Sharon Fernandez, our Director of Operations and Strategic Nurse Lead, and Annabel Agbo, our Lead Mental Health Nurse, spoke about gambling harms, how practice nurses can support patients, and available training. One attendee described the talk as "a wake-up call" to the impact of gambling on people's everyday lives and health.
Partners
September was also a month of building relationships with key stakeholders across the country.
Following NHS England (NHSE) and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) commissioning new gambling harms prevention and treatment services, we've been forging collaborative links with our new partners across the system.
In the second week of September, we met Islington People's Rights (IPR) and Lancashire Women to introduce our service and explore joint working. IPR has provided independent welfare and debt support in North London for decades, and we're excited to support them as they launch their 'Clean Break' offer for people experiencing gambling harm. Lancashire Women supports women across Lancashire, and we look forward to developing referral pathways with their gambling support service.
We've also been working closely with local authority public health teams as they develop their approaches to gambling harm, presenting to public health leads across the North West and West Midlands. In early September, we presented to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on our service and referral pathways for its ten borough councils, and discussions with GMCA and individual boroughs are ongoing. Our clinical team has also begun talks with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) public health team, and we look forward to working with WMCA and councils including Birmingham, Walsall and Sandwell.
Further afield, we've discussed gambling support provision with North Lincolnshire, and on 17 September we met Lambeth Council to contribute to their Joint Strategic Needs Assessment on gambling harm. We'll continue working with public health and local authority partners to build effective treatment pathways nationwide.
Finally, as the academic year begins, we've been working with QMUL, Kingston University and the University of East London to support their students. This includes attending events, sharing leaflets and business cards, and training staff to spot signs of gambling harm and signpost students to support. Students face several risk factors for gambling harm, and we're proud to partner with these universities to reach those who need help.
Awards
We were proud to be recognised at two awards ceremonies in September.
On 28 September, we attended the HSJ Patient Safety Awards in Telford, where we were shortlisted in two categories: Best Use of Integrated Care and Partnership Working in Patient Safety, and Mental Health Safety Improvement.
We're delighted to say we won the Partnership Working in Patient Safety Award on the night! Patient safety is central to everything we do, and we're honoured to be recognised for supporting our patients' mental health and for our role in a wider treatment and prevention system alongside our partners across the NHS and the third sector. It was a privilege to share the evening with so many brilliant, shortlisted teams.
We've also been shortlisted for the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Psychiatric Team of the Year: Working-age Adults Award. We're thrilled to be recognised by the Royal College and look forward to the ceremony in November.
Through all of this, our focus remains on providing safe, effective care. The NHS Primary Care Gambling Service offers free, confidential gambling support to adults across England.
To self-refer for support today, please fill out our online self-referral form or give us a call on 0300 0300 111.
Published: Oct 12, 2026