Worker at Berkshire psychiatric hospital where girl died had no experience, inquest hears

Ruth Szymankiewicz was a patient at Huntercombe hospital in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Photograph: family handout/PA

A support worker with a false identity who left a vulnerable 14-year-old girl unwatched in a secure psychiatric ward during his first shift had never worked in a hospital before, the teenager’s inquest has heard.

Following the death of Ruth Szymankiewicz, police found the support worker had “stolen” the false identity, had a fake passport and was able to get the shift at the hospital through an agency after brief training.