UK government vows to monitor waiting times for mental health services in new strategy

The coalition government has set out its priorities for improving mental health services in England by eliminating the variability and “discrimination” in the current system.

A new action plan outlines 25 pledges for improving services in the short term,1 to support its longer term mental health strategy2 and its mandate to the NHS for 2013-14, which focused on mental health and dementia.3

In a speech delivered at the launch of the document, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said it was time to bring mental health “out of the shadows” and ensure that it was treated with equal importance as physical health.

The plan proposes a series of actions for increasing access to mental health services, and it challenges healthcare …