Qld govt to probe mental health deaths

The Queensland government has announced a commission of inquiry into the closure of a youth mental health centre and the deaths of three patients.

Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk.(AAP) Source: AAP

The Queensland government will investigate whether the deaths of three young people were linked to the closure of a mental health facility.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the commission of inquiry headed by retired Justice Margaret Wilson will look at the former Liberal National Party government's decision to close the Barrett Adolescent Psychiatric Centre at Wacol.

"The loss of these teenagers has devastated their families, their friends - they have devastated a community," Ms Palaszczuk said.

The centre provided around-the-clock care for teenagers at serious risk of suicide.

The three patients died in the eight months following the centre's closure in January last year.

"That is why my government promised these families that we would help find them answers and that is a promise that we will keep," Ms Palaszczuk said.

The inquiry will focus on the closure and the subsequent deaths of patients Will Fowell, 18, Caitlin Wilkinson Whiticker, 18, and Talieha Nebauer, 17.

"It will investigate how decisions were made, who made the decisions and what evidence was available and considered before the centre was closed," Ms Palaszczuk said.

The premier said the inquiry would give the children's families a voice and allow them to question the care the three teenagers received and their deaths.

It will also provide recommendations for the future care of high-risk teenagers and the provision of mental health services for adolescents.

The premier said the inquiry would run from September 14 until January 2016.


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Source: AAP


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