The ACT's Minister for Mental Health has pledged to fix problems at Dhulwa Mental Health Unit after an inquiry found the standard of care was well below expectations.
Emma Davidson said the ACT government accepted all 25 recommendations from the inquiry, and they will be implemented by March next year.
Recommendations include improvements for governance, service delivery, workforce training, leadership and workplace culture.
An inquiry into the secure mental health unit handed down a scathing report into governance at the facility last year.
It found there "poor standards of care delivery", dysfunction among staff with unsupportive leadership, poorly managed change, fractured workforce relationships, workforce cliques and poor communication.
The inquiry also found the model of care at the Symonston facility was unclear, and uncertainty about security arrangements had contributed to safety concerns.
Ms Davidson told the Assembly on Tuesday Dhulwa had not been operating as well as it should be.
She said the forensic mental health service was to treat those with mental illness who are either involved, or at risk of being involved, in the criminal justice system.
These facilities need to balance competing priorities such as the security and safety of staff as well as ensuring a therapeutic service is being delivered.
"The Dhulwa report makes is clear that over recent times, Dhulwa has not got that balance right," Ms Davidson said.
"In a place where transparency and integrity are spoken about a lot, I would like to make it very clear that we recognise that Dhulwa has not been operating as well as it should. We are confronting that, and we will fix it."
An independent board has been appointed to oversee the progress of the reccomendations and this will be led by former Fair Work commissioner Barbara Deegan, who led the inquiry into Dhulwa.
Ms Davidson said the board would meet quarterly and report to her throughout this process about the delivery of the recommendations.
"In appointing the independent oversight board, we are ensuring that the process has sufficient rigour, independence and expertise, for me as minister and the community to be assured that the recommendations have been implemented to ensure that they stick," she said.
The inquiry was prompted after the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation raised concerns about assaults against nurses at the facility. The union claimed there were more than 100 physical assaults on nurses over a six-month period.
The inquiry report found many of the injuries were as a result of poor work practices but said reports about the number of assaults were inflated.
The report said the inflated claims had "far-reaching consequences" for both staff and patients.
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