Families of former patients at a Queensland mental health facility say the outcome of an inquiry into its controversial closure has made them believe in a brighter future.
The former Liberal National Party government shut the Brisbane-based Barrett Adolescent Centre (BAC) in January 2014, in the absence of a replacement, prompting ongoing stress for patients and their families.
Within eight months of the decision, three former patients took their own lives.
A 600-page report from a $14.2 million Commission of Inquiry into the matter, headed by Margaret Wilson QC, was released on Monday and made six recommendations, including the creation of a new bed-based treatment and rehabilitation facility for such patients.
Justice Wilson said the new unit, for which $22.7m was allocated in Labor's first budget, could form part of a non-acute facility at a southeast Queensland general hospital.
"There is no suggestion that the BAC should be replicated in a new location," she said.
"It was geometrically and clinically isolated.
"Some of its interventions, and the lack of others, have been criticised."
An expert panel warned of a "significant risk to the patients or future patients" if the centre was closed before alternatives were available.
"That advice was not heeded," Justice Wilson said.
The three young patients' families, who were privately briefed prior to the report's release, penned a letter of thanks to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
"There is now a reason to believe that a brighter future might be possible," they wrote.
Ms Palaszczuk said the findings showed the importance of consultation prior to life-changing government decisions.
"I personally met with one of the young girls who is no longer with us," she said.
"I will never forget her for as long as I live."
Ms Palaszczuk said the LNP's decision-making was "chaotic" and poorly-documented, but she denied attempting to score political points from a tragic situation.
"Fundamentally, this is about the young people," she said.
Health Minister Cameron Dick apologised to the families for the LNP's "flawed administration".
"The fact that the patients at the BAC who were let down by this were some of the most vulnerable Queenslanders is a tragedy," he said.
The inquiry also highlighted the problematic - and possibly national - non-alignment between adolescent and adult mental health services, which Justice Wilson said would be referred to COAG.
It labelled as "extraordinary" the non-documentation of the BAC decision - announced publicly by then-health minister Lawrence Springborg in a radio interview - until months afterwards.
It noted a "tight fiscal environment" where the health department had been asked to find savings of between $100 million and $120 million and criticised the decision-making process, for which "no one person or entity assumed responsibility and accountability".
The government hopes to have finalised the design of a new facility by the end of the year.
Opposition health spokesman John-Paul Langbroek said he was still sifting through the report but believed the government had wasted public money.
"From our reading of the media statement the Palaszczuk government has spent $20 million on a political witch-hunt - money we believe could have been better spent caring for young people suffering with mental health issues," he said.
"There is nothing in the report that suggests wrongdoing by the previous health minister."
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
