Abusive and aggressive care worker is struck off
Threw meals in bin and let resident go hungry
A callous care home worker was sacked after she told a distressed resident who said he would report her to his mum: “Good luck mate because your mum is dead”.
Pandora Bateman, who worked at The Grange at Balbeggie before details of the incident came to light, has now been removed from the register of care home practitioners following an investigation by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).
The body decided to remove Bateman from the register after finding there was sufficient evidence to prove she swore at the same resident on several occasions and pushed him to his injury on or around the same date she made the comment about his mum.
A decision report published by the SSSC said Bateman was found to have told the service user “shut your face”, “you do my f*** ing head in” and “I f***ing hate you” as well as the comment about his mum on or around September 19, 2019.
It said Bateman was also found to have pushed the resident forcefully over a bed causing him to strike his legs against a rail after he complained he did not want her to help him on or around the same date.
The report added Bateman was further found to have thrown meals meant for the same service user straight in the bin right after he refused to eat them and let him go hungry on several occasions between July 23 and September 23 the same year.
It noted Bateman threw the food in the bin on each occasion without waiting to see if he would change his mind and eat the food later or if he would accept the same meals from other members of staff.
The Grange at Balbeggie is managed by Advanced Specialist Care, a part of the Balhousie Care Group.
The SSSC’s decision report, which referred to the resident only as AA, said of Bateman’s behaviour: “You have been verbally abusive towards a resident in your care by shouting at them and using inappropriate language.
“You have also been physically abusive towards the same person by forcefully pushing their legs across their bed and holding their arm down.
“Your actions could have caused AA both emotional and physical harm. As a result of your actions, AA was reluctant to interact positively with care staff, which could have had a detrimental effect on his health and wellbeing.
“You have also, on a number of occasions, thrown AA’s food in the bin when he didn’t want it, rather than putting the meal to one side and offering this to AA again shortly afterwards, or alternatively letting another member of staff try to offer him his meal.
“AA’s care plan is clear that he can sometimes display challenging behaviour. Your actions demonstrate impatience towards AA rather than a willingness to assist or offer reassurance to AA when he is displaying challenging behaviour, such as refusing a meal.
“Such behaviour could have caused AA to suffer emotional harm and similarly could have had a detrimental impact on his physical wellbeing.
“There are significant public protection concerns arising from your actions. Your behaviour was aggressive and abusive in nature, highlighting an inability on your part to maintain selfcontrol when faced with challenging situations.
“A pattern has also been established in terms of the behaviour. There is a risk that if you were in a similar situation in the future, the behaviour could be repeated.
“If the behaviour were to be repeated, other vulnerable residents could be placed at risk of physical and emotional harm.
“Your behaviour demonstrates a clear abuse of trust and is indicative of an underlying values or attitudinal issue, which is not easily remediable.
“Your behaviour falls far short of the standards expected of social service workers and calls into question your suitability to continue working as part of a caring and responsible profession.”
A spokesperson for Balhousie Care Group commented: “Ms Bateman was suspended from our employment as soon as these matters came to light, pending a full internal investigation. Her employment with us was then terminated.
“Balhousie Care Group does not tolerate anything other than a safe, caring, supportive and dignified environment for our service users, which is why we acted swiftly to address this.”
There is a risk that if you were in a similar situation in the future, the behaviour could be repeated SSSC report