A children's mental health ward was missing at least half of its staff on the day a suicidal teenage girl, who should have been under constant watch, was left unsupervised while in the care of an inexperienced agency care worker, an inquest has heard.
Ruth Szymankiewicz was being treated for an eating disorder at Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire and had been placed under strict one-to-one observation when on February 12, 2022 she was able to shut herself in her bedroom alone for 15 minutes.
The teenager was found unconscious shortly after, having been left alone long enough to asphyxiate herself and sadly died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford two days later.
It later emerged the member of staff responsible for watching Ruth at the hospital's Thames ward - a man then known as Ebo Acheampong - had been using false identity documents and was hired under a false name.
The inquest also heard on Wednesday that Mr Acheampong had never worked in a hospital environment prior to coming to Huntercombe Hospital on the fateful day for his first shift.
