‘Systemic failures’ led to unlawful death of girl at mental health unit, family says

Ruth Szymankiewicz. Credit: Family Handout/PA Wire

By Mathilde Grandjean, PA Media

The parents of a teenage girl who died after being left alone at a children’s mental health ward by an agency worker using a fake ID have said “systemic failures” led to her unlawful death.

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 12 February, 2022, she was left on her own by the member of staff responsible for watching her.