La ragazza lasciata non corrispondente dal lavoratore dell’agenzia presso l’unità psichiatrica è stata uccisa illegalmente, i reperti di inchiesta
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/aug/14/ruth-szymankiewicz-unlawfully-killed-psychiatric-unit-inquest-finds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
di topotaul
4 commenti
A shelf replenisher in your nearest supermarket will have had more training and diligence on id checking than an agency mental health nurse from this company. RIP you poor girl.
> During the inquest it emerged that the worker, who went under the stolen identity Ebo Acheampong, had never worked at any hospital before the day he was put in charge of observing Ruth and did not receive an induction before his shift.
> The jury in Beaconsfield heard that the ward Ruth was on was habitually severely short-staffed and relied heavily on temporary agency staff like Acheampong.
One of the many consequences of cutting our public services to the bone. We’ve gutted the number of actual staff at these facilities, and made them entirely dependent on agency staff (who likely end up costing even more to actually hire, given that the facility have to pay both the wages of the staff member *and* the overheads of whatever agency is hiring them out) who are poorly trained and give no shits about the actual job they’re doing (because they’ll be in another facility the next week anyway).
> Ruth’s parents, Kate and Mark Szymankiewicz, a GP and a consultant surgeon, claimed at the inquest that Ruth never received the therapeutic care she needed.
> They were devastated that the unit was more than 70 miles from their Wiltshire home, leaving Ruth isolated and desperate. The couple also expressed concern that Ruth had unfettered access to her mobile phone and was able to research suicide.
Just more consequences of cuts upon cuts upon cuts. Not enough facilities, and no access to necessary treatments for those in them.
It’s was the right verdict for a preventable death.
Unfortunately, instances of institutional neglect is far too common in private mental health settings, for this not to warrant further government scrutiny.
There should be a national inquiry into how many private treatment centres view mental health patient’s as a cash cow. They will charge extortionate fees to the NHS whilst under-staffing and paying them a minimum wage.
The issue with agency staff is that many see the job as ‘easy’, that they just need to turn up regardless of whether they are truly present, and actually do any work.
So, you’ll often find agency staff working 24hours in a row, just to collect their pay check, falling asleep whilst they should be watching their patients, or failing to interact with them in any therapeutic way. This is why incidents frequently occur.
Interesting reading: [https://www.nhsforsale.info/private-providers/medacs-copy/](https://www.nhsforsale.info/private-providers/medacs-copy/) Barely solvent healthcare company hands out millions in bonuses to directors while patients die from cost cutting and poor management.