Black Isle carer struck off over ‘extremely serious’ behaviour; Scottish Social Service Council issued ruling over Fortrose carer

A Black Isle carer who was fired after taking a photo of herself flipping a 'v' sign at a client and sharing it online, and later lied about it when applying for a new job, has been struck off the register.

Cara MacLennan, who worked in Fortrose at the time, was removed from the Scottish Social Services Council's (SSSC) register this week following an investigation.

They found that in February last year, while working as a carer at an unnamed site, she took a picture of a "vulnerable service user "in their nightwear while holding her fingers up at them in a 'v' sign, before sharing it on Snapchat with a "derogatory" caption that also said "Can't see me... ha ha ha" and "doesn't know anything I'm doing".

The image, which the SSSC said had been shared to "at least one other person" on Snapchat, later came to light when it was reposted by someone else to a public Facebook page.

She was subsequently dismissed from her job, but when applying for a new job with another care firm as a care assistant in July last year, she did not disclose the real reason why she had left her previous work, and falsely stated that her reason for leaving had been because she had been "offered [a] new job".

She also failed to disclose that the SSSC was already investigating her over that incident.

Ruling that she had acted in a "dishonest manner", the SSSC said her fitness to practise is "impaired".

Striking her from its register, the SSSC said: "Social service workers are expected not to abuse, neglect or harm people who use services.

"They are expected to behave in a manner while within and out with work which does not fall below the standard expected of social service workers and does not bring their suitability to work in the sector into question.

"You have taken a selfie photograph of a resident and thereafter added derogatory remarks about her [information redacted], before sending this to a friend via a social media platform.

"You then applied for a position as a carer with another employer and failed to inform them of the reason for leaving your former employer and that you were currently under investigation by the regulator.

"Your actions were dishonest and concealed the true reason why you were no longer working at [information redacted]. You also demonstrated a lack of integrity by not disclosing to [information redacted] that you were subject to a SSSC investigation.

"The misconduct causes significant concerns about your core values as a social care worker entrusted to care and support vulnerable people."

They added that MacLennan had subsequently "shown a level of insight" during the investigation, had co-operated with the SSSC "at all stages of the investigation" and had "no previous fitness to practise referrals".

But the SSSC ruled that a warning on her record, or a suspension, instead of striking her from the register would not be appropriate "as it would not adequately address the impairment of your fitness to practice".

It added that "the behaviour is extremely serious". and that because she was not currently working within the care sector, any ruling that would instead subject her to conditions "would not be workable or enforceable".

They concluded: "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."

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