An Edinburgh carer has been given an 18-month warning after grabbing a resident by the trousers and taking their handbag.
Julie Farwell, was working as a support worker at an Edinburgh care home when she shouted at vulnerable service user 'you better eat your meal' and demanded she ate more from her plate.
The incidents occurred between December 2009 and December 2020 at Cherry Oak Care Home in Colinton.
The Scottish Social Services Council decided on May 11, 2022, that Farwell should have a warning period of a 18-months placed on her registration, affecting her reliability as a worker in that particular industry.
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The council found that Farwell's vision to practice was impaired as she made the service user in question feel 'threatened' and showed no empathy for her actions afterwards.
In a report from the SSSC, they noted: "Social service workers must uphold the public’s trust and confidence in social services, and must not abuse, neglect, or harm people who use services.
"You failed to act with the kindness and compassion expected of you as a social service worker and attempted to force residents to do something they did not want to do.
"However, you have provided insight into your behaviour and although your approach to these situations would not be deemed appropriate, it would appear that you did not set out to cause any upset or distress to the residents involved.
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"The SSSC considered the risk of repetition to be high in light of the nature of the behaviour.
"Although no harm came to any service users in your care as a result, there is a high potential of harm being caused by your behaviour.
"There is an ongoing public protection concern and there is a need to uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour.
"A reasonable member of the public in possession of all the facts would be concerned if the SSSC, as the regulator for social services, did not find impairment when a worker has acted in this way towards vulnerable service users."
Factors that worked in Farwell's favour were a positive previous experience with the council and the fact the SSSC was provided with a number of references in support of your practise.
A spokesperson for the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership commented,
“We do not comment on any individual cases.
"However for context, in the interest of all those in our care and their families, everyone who works in social care in a registered service, must adhere to the Scottish Social Services Council codes of practice alongside the employer’s code of conduct.
"In very rare cases, if conduct may have contradicted the strict standards expected, it is thoroughly investigated, and appropriate action is taken.”
