An Edinburgh carer has been struck off after restraining and hitting a woman in her care and branding her "pathetic".
Rebecca Harley lashed out at the woman while working for residential care home firm Care UK in December 2019.
She trapped her victim's hand between her arm and body, and shouted at her that she was "pathetic", or words to that effect.
Harley then struck the woman on the hand in a moment described as a "loss of control".
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), Scotland's care worker watchdog, heard that Harley had changed her account of what happened during the incident after an investigation was launched by her employers.
It was told that the Edinburgh worker had shown "very little insight, regret or apology" for her actions despite their "physically and verbally abusive" nature.
Harley was given the option of arguing her case before an independent panel of experts after the investigation was passed to the regulator.
However she ultimately agreed to be struck off the register, banning her from working in care. She did not have any other marks against her record.
In a written summary of her case, the SSSC said Harley had run the risk of causing "physical and emotional harm" to the woman in her care.
"People using services should feel safe and secure from harm in their homes and deserve to be treated with patience and respect when they have no choice but to trust others to provide them with support," it said.
"Although this was an isolated incident and there have been no previous concerns, the behaviour falls below the standard expected of a social service worker and is fundamentally incompatible with professional registration."
Case assessors concluded that removing Harley from the register of care workers was "the most appropriate" sanction - as to dole out a lesser decision could reduce public confidence in the regulator.
Care UK operates three care homes in the Edinburgh area. The home where the incident occured has not been identified.
A Care UK spokesperson said: “We expect all of our colleagues to deliver the highest possible standard of care and we will not tolerate any situation where a team member does not deliver this standard along with kindness and compassion.
"This is an extremely unusual situation and, as soon as it was reported, we suspended the individual and conducted our own internal investigation. This person has not worked in one of our homes since.”
The firm was contacted for comment.
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