UK GOVERNMENT REPORT: Mental health care in Britain is 'unacceptable'

On Monday, a UK government taskforce is due to release a report on the state of mental healthcare in Britain. The Guardian has got hold of a draft version, and it doesn't make for pleasant reading.

The number of suicides in the country is rising again, as is the time taken for children to be seen about mental health issues, as well as the amount of people sectioned - the latter by 10%.

There are resounding failures to provide adequate care: Just 15% of services provide "effective" care for postnatal mental health issues for women, 10% of childrens' appointments are being cancelled, and wards are "far busier than guidelines allow."

Perhaps most shockingly: 75% of all people who need mental healthcare are not receiving it.

The report, put together by a government taskforce called A Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, says that "many people struggle to get the right help at the right time, and evidence-based care is underfunded ... The human cost is unacceptable and the financial cost is unaffordable."

Also on Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron is set to announce new initiatives and funding - but, The Guardian reports, previous efforts by his governments may have actually made mental health provision in Britain worse, according to the report.