‘The unit seemed like a jail’: The way my child was devastated by a health service designed to support her
It grew clear to me in that pivotal moment that the treatment facility where my child was placed had all the hallmarks of a secure institution.
Our Ruth had placed her trust in the system. We had done the same. That faith shattered when she was transferred from our local medical facility to the psychiatric intensive care unit at the mental health institution.
During our leave-taking, she walked peacefully to the patient van with me and the child therapist, who hugged her close before waving goodbye.
The moment the van portal opened at the new location, the austere structure stood imposing. We were met by staff who led us up a staircase through multiple secured entries, with each door locking completely behind us as the staff member waited for confirmation of locking before unlocking the next.
The facility was totally secured and devoid of natural light, with my eyes rapidly tiring from the intense clinical lighting. We were taken to a glass-enclosed space that staff called the “observation post”.
The Devastating Separation
I felt her hand cling to me as they announced my leaving was necessary. My question about not meeting staff was answered with the rule that “parents must leave the unit.”
After pushing further, they allowed me a quick viewing to her room, but demanded I depart immediately afterward, citing hospital regulations.
To this day, I awaken during the night with my heart pounding heavily while revisiting that walk through the common area to Ruth’s allocated area. The area contained only a single bed and synthetic table, with sealed windows.
The instructions faded away as they explained about the continuous monitoring by rotating staff. I set her bag on the surface, while Ruth sat frightened on the bed before I was led from the room.
Abruptly, I was confined beyond the double portals, clutching a paper that stated I could spend time with my daughter for just one hour, only on two occasions each week.
How could I have consented to this?
A Devastating Outcome
{Our daughter, Ruth Szymankiewicz, passed away on Valentine’s Day 2022 at 6:29 PM on the children’s ICU at the medical facility in Oxford. She was rushed there from Huntercombe hospital, an NHS commissioned but for-profit child and adolescent mental health unit, where she had been not prevented from fatal self-injury previously.|Our Ruth lost her life on February 14, 2022 at 6:29 PM in the {pediatric intensive care unit|
