The death of a teenage girl who was left unsupervised at a children’s mental health ward by an agency worker using a fake ID has been ruled as an unlawful killing.
Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on 14 February 2022 while she was a patient at Taplow Manor, which was ran by the Huntercombe Group, in Berkshire.
She had been left unsupervised by an agency worker before her death, an inquest jury at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court heard.
Taplow Manor closed in 2023 after an investigation by Sky News revealed accusations of the overuse of restraint and medication along with inadequate staffing and training.
More than 50 former Huntercombe patients have spoken to Sky News as part of a joint investigation with The Independent.
Ruth was being treated for an eating disorder at Taplow Manor when she as placed on the “level three observation” plan following earlier incidents of self-harm – meaning she had to be kept within eyesight at all times.
However, the 14-year-old was able to shut herself in her bedroom at the hospital’s psychiatric intensive care unit – also known as Thames ward – on 12 February 2022 when she self-harmed.
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She died two days later.
The agency worker responsible for watching Ruth – a man then known as Ebo Acheampong – had never worked in a psychiatric hospital environment before coming to Taplow Manor on 12 February 2022 for his first shift.
A police investigation later found he was hired by the Platinum agency – which supplied staff for the hospital – under a false name.
Mr Acheampong never returned to work at the hospital following Ruth’s death and fled the UK for Ghana.
The ward was missing at least half of its staff on the day Ruth, who had self harmed several times in the past, was left unsupervised, the coroner’s court heard.
Mr Acheampong was originally working on a different ward, but was asked to join the team on Thames ward because they were so short-staffed nurses could not go on breaks, jurors were previously told.
A risk management form known as a “Datix incident” had been filed on the day by Michelle Hancey – a support worker with 18 years’ experience with The Huntercombe Group – who raised concerns the Thames ward team would “fail to monitor patients on prescribed special observation because of staff shortage”.
During the inquest, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the moment Mr Acheampong left Ms Szymankiewicz unsupervised while she sat in the ward’s lounge watching TV, enabling her to leave the room.
In the footage, Mr Acheampong can be seen leaving the room repeatedly – at first only for seconds at a time, then for two minutes – prompting the teenager to walk up to the door and look into the lobby, seemingly waiting for the opportunity to leave the room.
She was last captured on CCTV walking out of the ward’s day room “completely on her own” before going straight to her bedroom and closing the door behind her, coroner Ian Wade KC told the inquest.
Around 15 minutes passed before a nurse discovered the teenage girl and raised the alarm.
An inquest jury sitting at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court in Beaconsfield returned a conclusion of unlawful killing today.
Jurors could be seen crying as they recorded their conclusion, as well as the coroner and members of the family.
Tapolow had been inspected twice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) prior to the incident, the inquest previously heard.
It was rated as “overall inadequate” in a CQC report dated February 2021.
The Huntercombe Group merged with the Active Care Group in August 2022.
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