A TEENAGE girl, 14, died in hospital after she was left alone by a worker who had a fake ID and later fled the UK, an inquest heard.
Ruth Szymankiewicz was admitted to Huntercombe Hospital, in Maidenhead, Berks., after being diagnosed with an eating disorder.
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The patient was required to be under constant supervision after harming herself 10 days prior.
But, she was left alone by an agency employee working under a false identity, as reported by The Times.
Tragedy struck on February 12, 2022, Buckinghamshire coroner’s court heard on Monday.
The worker, who was using the false name Ebo Acheampong, left Ruth by herself on his first shift at the psychiatric hospital.
The teenager harmed herself during a 15-minute episode and tragically died two days later in hospital.
After learning of her death, ‘Ebo Acheampong’, fled to Ghana.
Assistant coroner Ian Wade KC told the inquest he had been recruited through a nursing agency called Platinum.
He was trained for just a day-and-a-half, which the court heard was “the norm”.
“But on February 12, he did not keep Ruth under a constant watch,” explained the coroner.
“Some time around 8pm in the evening, this man ended his shift without knowing where she was and without making sure that he handed her over to another member of staff to continue the one-to-one care regime.
“He simply left.”
Thames Valley Police discovered Acheampong had gone to Heathrow and flown to Ghana “never to be seen again”.
Ruth’s heartbroken parents, Kate and Mark Szymankiewicz, said their family had been “shattered”.
They told how their daughter, who was diagnosed with anorexia, had previously been treated on the children’s ward at Salisbury Hospital.
The youngster was rushed to an intensive care unit in 2021 after a nasogastric feeding tube was placed into her lung instead of her stomach.
The court heard her mum and dad had been apprehensive about her transfer to Huntercombe, due to the two-hour driving distance from their home.
A post-mortem examination recorded Ruth’s cause of death to be “hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy”, a type of brain damage due to lack of oxygen.
The coroner said there had been two “unfavourable” Care Quality Commission reports on Huntercombe Hospital, run by Active Care Group, which has since closed.
The inquest is expected to last two weeks.
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
