A Kilwinning carer who accepted money from a service user's family to run private shopping errands has been issued with an official warning.
Elizabeth Gorman ran the sideline while working as a care and support worker with Carewatch in 2016 and 2017, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) found.
She bought shopping for a service user and received funds from their family for doing so - a move the care watchdog said exposed both to 'an unnecessary risk of financial harm.'
The arrangement, which was struck between March 1, 2016 and April 12, 2017, put Gorman in direct competition with her employer and in breach of their policy on preventing financial abuse, the SSSC ruled.
Gorman resigned from her position at Carewatch prior to the conclusion of a disciplinary hearing.
But she failed to declare that fact to the SSSC on two subsequent occasions - August 10, 2020 and June 24, 2022 - while applying to be registered on two different parts of the care register.
The SSSC determined that Gorman's fitness to practise was impaired as a result of her actions.
A warning was place on her registration as a Support Worker in a Care Home Service for Adults for a period of 24 months.
A report detailing the incidents said Gorman had failed to demonstrate an insight or understanding of the severity of her actions.
But it stated that her behaviour 'appears to have resulted from poor judgement rather than malicious intent.'
It read: "Social service workers must be reliable and dependable. They require to declare issues which might create conflicts of interests.
"They must keep to policies and procedures about accepting gifts and money from people who use services and carers.
"You exposed a supported person and their family to an unnecessary risk of financial harm. You showed a complete disregard for the systems that are in place to prevent financial abuse.
"You failed on two occasions to declare that you had resigned from an employment prior to the conclusion of a disciplinary investigation to your regulator, the SSSC.
"There is a pattern of disregarding policies and procedures put in place to ensure that the appropriate safeguards exist to protect vulnerable supported people.
"This behaviour brings into question your suitability to work in social services."
The 24-month sanction came into effect as of December 28, 2022.
Gorman must now make her current employer aware of the sanction, take part in fresh training and participate in supervisory meetings, reporting back to the SSCC.
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