Ruth Szymankiewicz should have been under constant watch at Huntercombe hospital
A 14-year-old girl who was supposed to be constantly observed in a psychiatric hospital died after an agency support worker with a false identity left her alone, an inquest jury has heard.
When he heard that Ruth Szymankiewicz, who was suffering from an eating disorder, had died, the worker fled from the UK to Ghana, the court was told.
Ruth’s parents, Kate and Mark Szymankiewicz, a GP and a consultant surgeon, had been concerned about Ruth being held at Huntercombe hospital in Maidenhead, Berkshire, because it was so far from their Wiltshire home and they thought a secure setting was wrong for her, the jury heard.
Assistant coroner Ian Wade KC told the jury that on 12 February 2022 Ruth should have been under constant watch at Huntercombe.
