Teenager who fatally self-harmed at scandal-hit mental health hospital was unlawfully killed

A teenager who died fatally to a scandal mental health The hospital was illegally killed, ruled an investigation jury.

Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died on February 14, 2022 after she was left alone at Huntercombe Hospital, also called Taplow Manor, near Maidenhead in Berkshire, despite a constant individual observation, said the coroner court of Buckinghamshire.

Ruth, who had a food disorderTourette syndrome and a ICT condition, which had affected her mental health, was left alone for 15 minutes on February 12, allowing her to go to her room, where she hides. She was found and resuscitated before being transferred to John Radcliffe hospital, but died two days later.

During her investigation, it was revealed that the district in which she was was “seriously short-personal” and missing “at least half” of their workers on the day of her self-center.

In a note written by the teenager before her death, read aloud before the court, Ruth criticized the lack of therapy available for hospital patients, who, according to her, had a “dangerous number of staff” and “should be closed”.

By giving the jury’s conclusions for “illegal murder”, the Forman said that the therapy offered to Ruth should be under the obesides from one to one but was left alone between 8:06 p.m. and 8:21 p.m.

The Huntercombe Hospital, Maidenhead, called Taplow Manor, was closed in 2023 following surveys by The independent revealed accusations of systemic abuse of patients.

He was also revealed before the court that the care worker responsible for monitoring Ruth had only crossed the day or a day of online training before his first quarter of work at the childrenPsychiatric hospital on February 12, 2022.

The worker who left him had worked under a false identity, and police could not question him after his death when he fled the country.

In a tragic note written by Ruth before his death, reading the investigation, revealed that she said that the hospital staff would fall asleep in the quarter work, that there was no access to therapy and that the hospital “should be closed”.

She said: “Huntercombe, he does not deserve a capital H … It is the most underwater mental health institution you may get. Nonexistent therapy, the dangerous number of staff, how the place worsened you, and the staff literally sleep on their quarters of work.

“I don’t want it to happen to other patients. My suggestion is to close this place. ”

During the survey, an NHS principal doctor working for the Thames Complete Thames supplier, who was responsible for the admission of Ruth, admitted that the NHS had not done enough for a 14 -year -old who died in the care of a private hospital.

Dr. Gillian Combes said the NHS was aware that the hospital used daily, that there were concerns about his care, but no other choice was clinically available for Ruth.

Dr. Combe also warned that children’s mental health units across the country find it difficult to provide their services every day and that the NHS does not have the money to build its own services.

The staff working on unity on the day of his death revealed that he was “seriously short” on the day of his self-center and lacked about half of the workers he needed that day. A senior nurse and a main support employee, Michelle Hansey, both revealed that they had raised worries about the staff runs to the hospital to managers before Ruth’s death.

Ms. Hancy told the jurors that, on the morning of February 12, she had become “upset and emotional” due to the insufficient endowment in the Thames district.

“I raised (endowment problems) several times before this event,” said Ms. Hancey, adding that many staff had fallen ill during this period because of exhaustion.

He was also alleged during the investigation that on occasions when the districts were short -term managers of Huntercombe in personnel would look for patients whose observations could be reduced.

In 2023, a joint survey of The independent and Sky News in a group of hospitals The ownership of the Huntcombe group and then taken care of by the active care group, allegations of children who were at the hospital and their families were “treated as animals” and were traumatized as part of a decade of “systemic abuse”.

The allegations understood that patients were subject to the “painful” use of constraints and were maintained for hours by nurses. Some were prevented from going out for months, lived in neighborhoods with bloody walls, were forcibly fed and gave so many drugs that they had become “zombies”.

In 2017, another young girl died in a hospital belonging to the Huntcombe group. Mia Tirerridge, 17, who was supposed to be subject to 15 -minute observations, committed suicide when a nurse failed to check her for almost an hour, an investigation discovered.

Following The independentCare Quality Commission reports have arrested new admissions to the Taplow Manor, and the active care group, which took over, decided to close the hospital later.