Shift workers at the psychiatric facility allegedly slept during their duties, according to a statement made by a girl who ultimately passed away while receiving treatment there.
In the small town of Taplow, Berkshire, the tragic death of 14-year-old Ruth Szymankiewicz at Huntercombe Hospital (also known as Taplow Manor) in 2023 has shed light on severe shortcomings in staffing, supervision, and patient care quality within the hospital's mental health unit.
Ruth, a patient suffering from an eating disorder, was supposed to receive constant one-to-one supervision. However, during her final days at the hospital, she was left unattended, leading to self-harm and fatal injuries.
The inquest into Ruth's death has uncovered a series of disturbing revelations. For instance, the support worker assigned to Ruth was working on another ward and was moved to her ward due to staff shortages. Despite this, he used a fake passport to falsify his identity and fled the UK days after Ruth's death.
Moreover, the hospital's staffing issues were not a secret. Clinical team leader Ellesha Brannigan testified that support workers should verbally hand over to each other and hand over a clipboard containing patient details. However, on the day Ruth was left unsupervised, the support worker left her alone at the end of his shift, which was also his first day working at Huntercombe.
Ruth's family described her care as fragmented, with no clear plan to aid her recovery. Concerns they raised were reportedly ignored. The support worker's actions were not limited to leaving Ruth alone; he also allegedly failed to follow hospital protocols for formal handover and continuous supervision.
Before her death, Ruth wrote a note expressing deep dissatisfaction with her care. She accused staff of "literally sleeping on their shifts," therapy being "non-existent," and the hospital making patients "10 times worse."
The hospital had been under scrutiny before Ruth's death. Investigations by media outlets such as Sky News and The Independent exposed overuse of restraint and medication, insufficient staffing, inadequate training, and poor patient care. These issues led to the hospital’s closure in 2023.
CCTV footage from the hospital showed Ruth walking through Thames Ward without anyone accompanying her, confirming periods during which she was left unsupervised. Ruth was eventually resuscitated but died two days later at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
The ongoing inquest into Ruth Szymankiewicz’s death serves as a stark reminder of the critical deficiencies in staffing adequacy, supervision, and patient care quality at Huntercombe Hospital. These deficiencies directly contributed to Ruth's tragic death, prompting the hospital's closure and ongoing scrutiny of mental health inpatient care standards in the UK.
The tragic death of Ruth Szymankiewicz at Huntercombe Hospital highlighted the dire need for improved mental health care, as the hospital's shortcomings in staffing and supervision were exposed in her case. Despite being a patient in need of constant one-to-one supervision due to her eating disorder, Ruth was left alone, leading to self-harm and fatal injuries. This unfortunate incident underscores the importance of prioritizing science, health-and-wellness, and mental health in our society to ensure quality patient care.
