Barrett Centre

In 1978, the Barrett Psychiatry Unit was established to provide acute care.

It comprised eight separate buildings, a reception and admission block, three wards with 32 beds, two wards with 16 beds, a cafeteria and a medical officer's flat. The Barrett Adolescent Centre (BAC) was a public mental health facility that operated between 1983 and January 2014 on the campus of The Park – Centre for Mental Health at Wacol. It provided extended inpatient treatment for adolescents with severe and complex mental illnesses. It had capacity for 15 inpatients, as well as five-day patients and a small number of outpatients.

There was also a waiting list for admission as inpatients or day patients.

The clinical director of the BAC, a psychiatrist, led a multi-disciplinary team of medical, nursing and allied health staff.

There was an on-site school, the Barrett Adolescent Centre Special School (BACSS) from 1985, operated by the Department of Education. On 6 August 2013, the then Minister for Health announced that the BAC would close.

Two processes were set in place.

The first was to identify appropriate alternative services for the then patients and the second was to develop a new suite of services intended to cater for adolescents with extended treatment needs including for those who might otherwise have been admitted to the BAC. The first process was undertaken by West Moreton Hospital and Health Service (HHS).

The second process was led by Children’s Health Queensland HHS (CHQ).