A callous carer has been struck off after a vulnerable care home resident suffered an allergic reaction from eating soap when a safety device was detached.
Jane Wallace was mentoring a junior colleague at Methven House in Kirkcaldy, Fife, when she told the worker to disconnect the floor call mat in December 2020.
As a result, staff were unaware that the unnamed woman had managed to get out of bed before consuming the soap.
After the resident was discovered, Wallace then attempted to stage a cover up by instructing her colleague to tell staff members that the woman had walked around the mat.
The Scottish Social Services (SSSC) found that she had issued the initial instruction to the junior because she was “not f****** listening to that all night”.
In a second shocking incident at the home, Wallace was also found to have shouted at another resident to get back to his “f****** bed”.
When the male pensioner began displaying challenging behaviour towards her, she got close to his face and said: “What are you going to do about it?”
The vulnerable OAP punched and headbutted Wallace, who then hit the back of his head with her hand causing him to lose his balance and stumble.
She then told the same junior colleague not to mention any of the incidents that had taken place and failed to report them herself to the nurse in charge.
The care watchdog has ruled that Wallace’s actions are “fundamentally incompatible” with working in the care sector and have banned her from the profession.
In a decision notice, they said: “Social service workers have a duty to meet relevant standards of practice and work in a safe and effective way.
“They must also ensure that service users are protected, insofar as possible, from harm.
“As instructed, the new member of staff turned the mat off, resulting in the resident in question managing to access and eat soap without members of staff being alerted that she had got out of bed.
“As a result of your actions, the resident suffered physical harm in the form of an allergic reaction and would also likely have suffered distress.
“Your actions also could have had implications for your colleague, who was very new to the job, in the event she was faced with disciplinary action for something you told her to do.
“You advised the same colleague to tell other members of staff that the resident had managed to walk around the floor mat, so as to conceal your wrongdoing.
“Such behaviour is dishonest and is fundamentally incompatible with professional registration.”
They added: “You have shouted, sworn and been verbally abusive towards a vulnerable resident in your care and slapped that same resident across the back of his head, causing him to lose his balance and stumble.
“Your actions had the potential to cause the resident physical harm and appear to have caused actual emotional harm.
“You have also attempted to conceal your wrongdoing by telling your junior colleague that you should keep the incident between yourselves and failed to report the incident to the nurse in charge, which is dishonest.
“Your behaviour demonstrates a complete lack of respect towards the resident and is abusive in nature.
“Such behaviour falls far short of the standards expected of social service workers and calls into question your suitability to work as part of a caring and responsible profession.
“The SSSC considers a Removal Order is the most appropriate sanction as it is both necessary and justified in the public interest and to maintain the continuing trust and confidence in the social service profession and the SSSC as the regulator of the profession.”
A spokesperson for Methven House said: “The safety, health and wellbeing of our residents is our top priority, so we fully support the removal decision of the Scottish Social Services Council against this individual.
“As soon as one of our colleagues rightfully reported the individual, in line with our whistleblowing procedure, we took immediate action to suspend the individual and thoroughly investigate the situation.
“We informed all relevant external authorities of what had taken place and, following an internal hearing, the individual in question was dismissed.
“We can confirm that prior to working for the home, this individual passed all referencing and enhanced PVG checks.
“We regularly review staff practice to help prevent an incident of this nature from reoccurring and to ensure that our residents continue to receive the best possible care.”
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