Girl who died after Maidenhead hospital failure unlawfully killed

A 14-year-old woman left alone to self-harm at a psychological well being hospital when she ought to have been below fixed supervision was unlawfully killed, an inquest jury has concluded.

Ruth Szymankiewicz was being cared for by a member of employees on his first shift who had pretend papers at Huntercombe Hospital, close to Maidenhead, Berkshire, on 12 February 2022.

Ruth, from Salisbury, was unaccompanied for about quarter-hour and left alone to stroll across the hospital and to her room.

It was there that she was discovered unconscious shortly afterwards. She died on the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford two days later.

She was being handled for an consuming dysfunction when she was moved to the failing hospital, which has since shut down, from October 2021.

It was rated inadequate and later requirements improvement in two separate inspections by the Care High quality Fee (CQC) in 2021.

Greater than half of the employees working on Ruth’s ward were absent when a employees member was drafted in from one other ward to observe her.

The person, identified to the hospital as Ebo Acheampong, had received his job there with false papers and had by no means labored in a healthcare setting earlier than that day.

CCTV footage confirmed him leaving the TV room, the place he had been sitting with Ruth, earlier than she ultimately left it and went to her bed room at about 20:00 GMT.

Acheampong fled the UK following the incident and returned to Ghana, the place he’s understood to have come from.

He was employed by the Lively Care Group, which ran the hospital, from the Platinum company. Thames Valley Police investigated however didn’t prosecute.

The jury discovered contributing elements to her demise included inadequate coaching of employees and that her care was “not appropriate nor conducive” to serving to her restoration.

She was additionally not prevented from watching “dangerous materials” on-line. Visiting preparations through which just one member of the family may go to her at any time had been additionally a contributing issue to her demise.

Her dad and mom, Kate and Mark Szymankiewicz, a GP and surgeon respectively, made a press release exterior Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Courtroom in Beaconsfield.

Mr Szymankiewicz mentioned his daughter was an “unimaginable, vibrant, pleasant, loving and adventurous woman with an entire lifetime of pleasure forward of her”.

He added: “When at our most weak as a household we reached out for assist.

“We finally discovered ourselves trapped in a system that was meant to take care of her, to assist her, to maintain her secure and as an alternative locked her away and harmed her.”

Ruth’s mum added: “There’s an empty area at our desk, a silent bed room in our dwelling and a gaping gap in our household that may by no means be stuffed.”

Lively Care Group mentioned it was “upset” that the recruitment company failed to search out Acheampong’s pretend papers and that it not works with it following Ruth’s demise.

“We deeply remorse the tragic occasion that occurred, and we’re actually sorry for the misery this has brought on and recognise the profound influence it has had on everybody who knew her,” it added.

It mentioned it has made “important enhancements to the standard and security in all of our companies”.