Girl, 14, died after being left alone by Taplow mental health hospital worker who later fled country, inquest hears

A teenager who should have been under constant supervision at a Taplow mental health hospital died after she was left alone by a support worker who subsequently fled the country, an inquest has heard.

Ruth Syzmankiewicz, 14, died from brain injuries following an incident of self-harm while she was being treated in a supposedly secure ward at Huntercombe Hospital – later renamed Taplow Manor – in 2022.

An inquest into her death at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court today (August 4), heard how Ruth had been ‘left to deteriorate’ and would have felt her treatment at the hospital was ‘like torture’.

Assistant Coroner Ian Wade told the inquest’s jury that Ruth’s ‘story is a desperately sad one’ and her death was an ‘unbearable tragedy’ for the Syzmankiewicz family.

The mental health hospital closed in 2023 following a series of damning inspections by care industry regulator the Care Quality Commission.

Archive image of Huntercombe Hospital in Taplow

Ruth was admitted to the hospital’s Thames Ward in late 2021, after she was sectioned and diagnosed with a severe eating disorder.

Ruth was supposed to be under constant one-to-one supervision on the ward.

But she was left alone on Monday, February 12, 2022, when a support worker, using the false identity of Ebo Acheampong, finished his shift in the evening.

The inquest heard how the worker, employed through an agency, had been ID checked and received some training before he started work at the hospital.

Mr Wade told the inquest: “This man, called Ebo Acheampong, ended his shift at 8pm without knowing where she was and without making sure that he handed her over to the next member of staff to continue the one-to-one [supervision] regime.

“He simply left.”

The inquest heard how police undertook an ‘intensive investigation’ which uncovered, through mobile phone records, that the support worker had been using a fake name.

It also uncovered that he had fled the country on a plane to Ghana in the days after the incident.

‘He’s never been seen from again,’ Mr Wade told the inquest, adding: “You will not hear from that man [during the inquest], and he let Ruth down.

“He let everyone down.”

Ruth died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on February 14, two days later.

The inquest is being held at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court in Beaconsfield (image: Google).

Other problems with Ruth’s care were raised in a statement from Ruth’s mother Kate, which was read out by Mr Wade at the inquest.

The statement said Ruth’s parents ‘had no idea how bad’ treatment at the hospital would have been and Ruth ‘would have felt her treatment was like torture’.

The statement said: “She was just contained and managed - all we saw was our child being left to deteriorate.

“It was unfathomable to us that 14-year-old child could have been treated in that way.”

It added: “Our belief is that the things that Ruth had to endure on a daily basis would have felt like torture to her and something she would have done anything to escape.”

‘Her death has shattered us’

Ruth’s mother and father read out a joint statement at the inquest – a ‘pen portrait’ of their daughter for the jury.

The statement described Ruth as ‘fiery’ and ‘determined’, with a ‘huge heart and a deep passion for life’.  

She loved animals, reading, and the outdoors – having climbed Mount Killamanjaro aged just 11.

It added: “She was a great big sister, loving cousin, loyal friend, and the kind of daughter you can only hope for.

“We miss her laughter, her challenges, her hugs, and her light. Ruth was, and is still, deeply loved.

“She died at the age of just 14. Far, far too young.

“If we have done our job properly in this pen portrait, you now get a sense of an amazing child, on the verge of becoming a beautiful young woman.

“Her death has shattered us, her family, and has had a profound impact on all that knew her.”

The nine-day inquest continues.

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