Teenager left alone to die at hospital 'failed' by watchdog

The Care Quality Commission had raised fresh concerns over understaffing just days before death of 14-year-old girl

- REBECCA THOMAS

The UK's care watchdog has been accused of failing to take action against a scandal-hit hospital before a catalogue of failings led to the unlawful death of a child.

Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died on 14 February 2022, two days after she fatally self-harmed when she was left alone at Huntercombe Hospital, in Maidenhead, by an inexperienced care worker who only had a day and a half's training, and was hired under a fake ID.

In the five years before Ruth's death, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published four reports warning about poor care at the hospital, dating back to inspections from 2017, raising concerns over repeated failures to properly monitor patients, reports of staff leaving "blood on the walls" and issues with missing patient records.

It rated the hospital, which was renamed Taplow Manor, "inadequate" in February 2021 but changed this in July 2021, saying improvements had been made.

Now, The Independent can reveal that just 11 days before Ruth died, the watchdog raised fresh concerns over understaffing at the hospital and found staff were not being told what was required of them.

In a joint interview with The Independent and Sky News, Ruth's parents, Kate and Mark Szymankiewicz, slammed the CQC over its failure to act, despite its own warnings before their daughter's death.

Mr Szymankiewicz said: “Before Ruth went to Huntercombe, we had been made aware of the CQC reports, which were damning, and to the point we said, ‘No, you cannot send our child to this institution,’ and we were told changes had happened, we were given a lot of assurances to alleviate our concerns.”

Ms Szymankiewicz said: “Regulation is complicated, but why did our daughter have to die before anyone paid attention to make some changes? They knew all of this before she died.”