Nick Clegg: no-one should wait longer than 13 weeks for mental health treatment

In a key speech on health service reform, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg unveiled plans to guarantee everyone suffering from mental health problems a first appointment for treatment within 13 weeks of referral.

The plans were launched as the Party reveals new figures showing that the average time for those people waiting longest for mental health treatment is over seven months, with some people waiting over three years for treatment such as psychotherapy and counselling.

Psychotherapy has some of the longest waits in the country with one area recording waits for an assessment of more than three years. Meanwhile record numbers of anti-depressants are being prescribed, with the number of prescriptions to children having quadrupled in just one decade.

To read the speech in full, please see our Speeches section.