A West Lothian social care worker has been hit with a 12-month warning on her registration after inappropriate behaviour towards young people under the age of 18 in her care.
Clare Dunlop, who is employed in Bathgate as a residential child care worker, had her fitness to practice questioned by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) for the second time.
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Dunlop was under investigation by the SSSC after she gave a back and calves massage to two young service users - both under the age of 18 - in March 2020.
This came after the care worker had gifted Christmas presents of sexual inclination to two 16-year-old service users in December 2019.
The care worker "placed the service users at risk of emotional harm" and failed to uphold proper standards of conduct and behaviour expected from a social care worker.
In a report, the SSSC said appealing to Dunlop: "Your actions were misjudged and amounted to a breach of the trust placed in you by the service user, their families and your employer. Such behaviour has the potential to be misinterpreted by the service users and could lead them to believe that all social service workers would treat them in this way.
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"This could create a misguided and unrealistic expectation on their part, which may affect how they interact with other workers in the future."
Alarmingly, both incidents occurred while Dunlop was under investigation for her previous misconduct of a similar nature. The SSSC said: "The circumstances of this incident were broadly similar in that you failed to recognise the professional boundaries that are expected between a worker and service user.
"Concerns are also heightened as the most recent incidents were carried out while your fitness to practise was still under investigation by the SSSC."
Following the investigation, Dunlop faces a series of conditions to her practice - including having regular supervision sessions, providing an extensive reflective account of her behaviour and undertaking learning - on top of the warning.
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