A coronial inquest will be held into the deaths of three people who died by suicide in the mental health unit of the Prince Charles Hospital between December 2022 and April 2024.
A further two people survived suicide attempts in the inpatient wards during this period.
The announcement of the inquest follows an independent review, which found there were staff shortages and inpatient facilities were “no longer fit for purpose” at two psychiatric wards at the hospital.
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Following the release of the review in August last year, the Queensland government committed $10 million to the facility.
Health Minister Tim Nicholls said those recommendations were “either underway or have been substantially completed” and supported the launch of a coronial inquest.
“I believe it [the inquest] will probably lead to recommendations that will help us to improve the service,” Nicholls said.
“This is something that obviously we will participate in, we look to learn from … the outcome of the investigation and [as I’ve said recently], the number of deaths in our mental health units is of concern to me.”
A pre-inquest conference is scheduled for April 2026.
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