A HOSPITAL is set to launch an NHS-funded internet addiction centre.

A spokesman for the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust said the centre is set to start in the next couple of weeks but could not confirm the numbers of patients who are being signed up for treatment.

Its aim will be to tackle gaming disorders but other internet-based addictions could be treated in the future.

Psychiatrist and clinic founder Henrietta Bowden-Jones told The Guardian the west London centre will seek to provide treatment, do research and give advice to families.

She told The Guardian: “Gaming disorder is finally getting the attention it deserves.

“The distress and harm it can cause is extreme.”