Children’s home manager drank lager on duty
THE former manager of a children’s home has been banned from similar roles for two years after offering youngsters under her care alcohol while on a camping holiday in France.
Nicola Haining will still be allowed to be a social worker during the period however, but must undertake necessary alcohol and risk assessment training.
A Care Council for Wales misconduct hearing was told how Ms Haining was in charge of five vulnerable children aged 14 to 16 on the 2015 trip, branded a “catalogue of errors”.
The former Rhondda Cynon Taf employee said she asked a colleague to buy low-percentage booze for the teens and drank lager and wine while she was supposed to be looking after them.
Miss Haining also failed to keep required documentation during the trip abroad and failed to adequately record three serious incidents, which included two 16-year-old girls going missing until nearly two in the morning and half of the party getting lost overnight.
The latter resulted in a male member of staff sleeping in a car with one of the teenagers, while two others were left to sleep unsupervised in a hotel.
The panel found Miss Haining’s fitness to practise to be impaired and decided to prevent her from working in a managerial role for a two year period.
Chair of the Committee Nia Roberts said the panel had found that Miss Haining was “impaired by reason of misconduct” and behaved in a way which did not “uphold public trust and confidence in the social care profession”.