People suffering mental health problems are being failed by poor access to out-of-hours services and counsellors, according to a report.
A Healthcare Commission review found that those needing access to round-the-clock care did not always have somebody to talk to.
While the majority of local mental health teams had out-of-hours services in their plan, just 49% of people with problems had the phone number of someone they could contact after office hours.
And 59% of Local Implementation Teams (LITs), which coordinate community mental health services, scored poorly when it came to providing access to crisis accommodation out-of-hours.
The review, the first of its kind, examined all 174 LITs in England. It rated 9% of LITs as excellent, 45% good, 43% fair and 3% as weak.
National guidelines say all people with schizophrenia or suspected schizophrenia should be offered appropriate talking therapies. The review found only half of people questioned had such access and in 20% of LIT areas the figure was "significantly lower".
A separate survey, also published by the Healthcare Commission, found most mental health patients felt NHS staff treated them with dignity and respect.
In all, 77% of more than 19,000 people questioned rated their overall care as excellent, very good or good, while 9% said it was poor or very poor.
Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission, said: "These survey results show that more people who use community mental health services feel they are being treated with dignity and respect, and this is good news.
Health minister Rosie Winterton said a programme had been launched earlier this year to improve access to talking therapies.
