Black Country Recovery College launches open days
The college said it provided an educational environment for people who have an interest in, or personal difficulties with, mental health.The open days are for prospective students, healthcare professionals and the public to learn more about recovery-focused educational programmes.Earlier this year, a six-week programme looking to help young men with mental health difficulties through music was put on at the college.Kerry Wilkes, principal, said: "We look forward to welcoming everyone and showcasing how our educational approach can make a positive impact on mental health and well-being."Our goal is to highlight the strengths and capabilities of each individual and foster a supportive community of learners."
Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Children's mental health ward had half its staff off when suicidal girl, 14, died unsupervised by inexperienced agency worker, inquest told
A children's mental health ward was missing at least half of its staff on the day a suicidal teenage girl, who should have been under constant watch, was left unsupervised while in the care of an inexperienced agency care worker, an inquest has heard. 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 February 12, 2022 she was able to shut herself in her bedroom alone for 15 minutes. The teenager was found unconscious shortly after, having been left alone long enough to asphyxiate herself and sadly died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford two days later. It later emerged the member of staff responsible for watching Ruth at the hospital's Thames ward - a man then known as Ebo Acheampong - had been using false identity documents and was hired under a false name. The inquest also heard on Wednesday that Mr Acheampong had never worked in a hospital environment prior to coming to Huntercombe Hospital on the fateful day for his first shift. Ellesha Brannigan, who worked as a clinical team leader on Thames ward, told the inquest that Mr Acheampong was originally working on a different ward but was asked to join the psychiatric intensive care unit because they were so short-staffed nurses could not go on breaks. 'We were severely short-staffed - we were missing at least half of our staff on this day,' Ms Brannigan said, adding they 'really struggled' to cover the whole ward. 'We needed the ward below us to send staff to us for us to be able to take breaks - breaks wouldn't have been possible otherwise,' she said. Jurors sitting at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court in Beaconsfield were shown CCTV footage of the moment Mr Acheampong left Ruth unsupervised while she sat in the ward's lounge watching TV, enabling her to slip away. She had been placed on the 'level three observation' plan following earlier incidents of self-harm - meaning she had to be kept within eyesight at all times. In the footage, Mr Acheampong can be seen leaving the room repeatedly - at first only for seconds at a time, then for two minutes - prompting the teenager to walk up to the door and look into the lobby, seemingly waiting for the opportunity to leave the room. She then locked herself in her room and self-harmed. A post-mortem examination carried out by the Home Office later determined the preliminary cause of death to be 'hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy' - a type of brain damage due to lack of oxygen. Commenting on the footage, coroner Ian Wade KC told the inquest: 'Ruth is very aware that she is being left on her own. 'Whichever way one looks at it, there has been an egregious breach of level three observation.' New support care workers joining Huntercombe were required to complete an induction process with a chief nurse, who would then need to sign a checklist or the shift would have to be cancelled, Tim Moloney KC, representing the family, told the hearing. This was not done for Mr Acheampong, with Ms Brannigan explaining: 'We didn't have the staff to do the induction for him.' The inadequate staffing levels on Thames ward were flagged to management that night by both Ms Brannigan and a colleague, the inquest heard. Ms Brannigan told the inquest staffing levels at Huntercombe Hospital - also known as Taplow Manor - had been an issue 'for a long time'. 'Myself and other staff advocated for our ward with senior management but no staffing changes were made,' she told the jury. The inquest previously heard Mr Acheampong never returned to work at the hospital following the incident and fled the UK for Ghana. On Monday, the coroner told jurors: 'The evidence showed he had been employed through an agency (Platinum), who checked his identity documents, and they even trained him by putting him through a day-and-a-half course. 'It appears that these particular processes were the norm and were sufficient to enable a hospital to employ this person. 'But on February 12, he did not keep Ruth under a constant watch. 'Some time around 8pm in the evening, this man ended his shift without knowing where she was and without making sure that he handed her over to another member of staff to continue the one-to-one care regime. 'He simply left.' Active Care Group, which owned Huntercombe at the time of Ruth's death, has since closed the facility. The inquest continues.
The Independent
8 hours ago
- The Independent
Hospital worker tears up as she recalls death of girl, 14, left alone on ward
A care worker at a children's mental health hospital broke down in tears during an inquest hearing as she recalled the moment she realised a suicidal teenage girl who should have been watched at all times had been left alone. 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 February 12 2022, an inexperienced agency worker left her on her own. The 14-year-old was able to shut herself in her bedroom at the hospital's psychiatric intensive care unit – also known as Thames ward – where she self-harmed. She died two days later at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. It later emerged the member of staff responsible for watching Ms Szymankiewicz – a man then known as Ebo Acheampong – had never worked in a psychiatric hospital environment prior to coming to Huntercombe Hospital on February 12 for his first shift. Michelle Hancey, a support worker with 18 years' experience at Huntercombe, teared up as she told a jury inquest on Wednesday about the moment Mr Acheampong told her he 'couldn't follow' Ms Szymankiewicz on the ward – and she realised the teenage girl was alone. 'He just said to me he couldn't follow his patient and when I asked him who his patient was, and when I found out it was Ruth, I told him he needed to look for her immediately,' Ms Hancey said. Ms Szymankiewicz had been placed on the 'level three observation' plan following earlier incidents of self-harm – meaning she had to be kept within eyesight at all times on the ward. Tim Moloney KC, who represents the family, told the hearing: 'What Ruth did on the 12th of February was not out of the blue. 'Those who worked on the ward knew that Ruth would take an opportunity (to self-harm) if it was presented to her.' Mr Acheampong was asked to join the psychiatric intensive care unit on February 12 because the ward was so short-staffed nurses could not go on breaks, the inquest at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court was previously told. Ms Hancey further told jurors that, on the morning of February 12, she had become 'upset and emotional' because of the insufficient staffing on Thames ward. 'I have raised (staffing issues) several times before this event,' Ms Hancey said, adding a lot of staff had fallen sick during that period because of exhaustion. 'There was an agreement that I should have a certain amount of staff on the ward. 'We had very difficult patients and they kept going off.' Ms Hancey filed a risk management form known as a 'Datix incident' on February 12 2022, in which she raised concerns that staff on Thames ward would 'fail to monitor patients on prescribed special observation because of staff shortage', Mr Moloney said. The inquest previously heard Mr Acheampong never returned to work at the hospital following the incident and fled the UK for Ghana. A police investigation later found he had been using false identity documents and was hired by the Platinum agency – which supplied staff for Huntercombe Hospital – under a false name. Active Care Group, which owned Huntercombe at the time of Ms Szymankiewicz's death, has since closed the facility. The inquest continues.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Mental health ward ‘severely short-staffed' on day suicidal teenager self-harmed, inquest told
A mental health hospital was 'severely short-staffed' and missing 'at least half' their workers on the day a vulnerable teenager fatally self-harmed, an inquest has heard. Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died on 14 February 2022 after she was left alone at Huntercombe Hospital, near Maidenhead in Berkshire, despite requiring constant one-to-one observation, Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court was told. Ruth, who had an eating disorder, Tourette syndrome and a tic condition, which had affected her mental health, was left alone for 15 minutes on 12 February, allowing her to make her way to her room, where she self-harmed. She was found and resuscitated before being transferred to John Radcliffe Hospital, but died two days later. It later emerged that the care worker responsible for watching Ruth at the hospital's psychiatric intensive care unit – a man then known as Ebo Acheampong – had been using false identity documents and was hired under a false name. Ellesha Brannigan, who worked as a clinical team leader on the ward where Ruth was staying, said they were understaffed on the day the teenager was left alone. She told the inquest: 'On this day, we were severely short-staffed when we had come in for a shift. We were missing at least half of our staff this day and we really struggled to get staff to cover the observation levels. We needed the ward below us to send us staff during break times to enable staff to take breaks. Otherwise, breaks wouldn't have been possible.' She added: 'Staffing was an issue for a long time, for a very long time there. It always was an issue, and me and other staff advocated for our ward and had several meetings with higher management about these staffing levels, but no changes were made.' On the day Ruth self-harmed, a worker raised the alarm on the low staffing levels by recording it as a safety incident, known as a datix. They wrote, 'We've got inadequate staffing levels here' and warned that patient 'observations might not be able to be kept' and cited 'patient harm', the court heard. Ms Brannigan said that Mr Achempong was called to work on the ward that day due to short staffing. The senior nurse also said that due to staffing issues, there was only one staff member available per two patients who both needed regular in-person checks. She said that shouldn't happen, but 'often' did due to a lack of available staff. CCTV footage from the ward on the day Ruth was found unresponsive, shown to the court, revealed Mr Achempong left Ruth alone in a lounge just after 8pm. His shift was due to end at 8.15pm, however, hospital protocol is for a staff member not to leave a patient needing one-to-one observation until they have handed over to another member of staff, Ms Brannigan told the court. In the footage, Mr Acheampong can be seen leaving the room repeatedly – at first only for seconds at a time, then for two minutes – prompting the teenager to walk up to the door and look into the lobby, seemingly waiting for the opportunity to leave the room. 'Ruth is very aware that she is being left on her own,' coroner Ian Wade KC told the inquest. 'Whichever way one looks at it, there has been an egregious breach of level three observation.' The court also heard how new support care workers joining Huntercombe were required to complete an induction process with a chief nurse, who would then need to sign a checklist or the shift would have to be cancelled, Tim Moloney KC, representing the family, told the hearing. This was not done for Mr Acheampong, with Ms Brannigan explaining: 'We didn't have the staff to do the induction for him.' If you are experiencing feelings of distress or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans in confidence on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@ or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to to find a helpline near you.
