Care worker given warning for upsetting elderly residents

A senior support worker has been given an 18-month formal warning after upsetting residents at a Fife care home.

Deborah Woodcock admitted her fitness to practise was impaired following an investigation by the Scottish Social Services Council.

While employed at Benore Care Centre in Lochgelly, the carer deliberately tried to make service users go to bed by opening windows, closing doors and turning off the lights.

Woodcock, who also admitted turning off the television, was also found to have spoken in an “abrupt manner” to one resident when she got out of bed.

The incidents took place between March 2014 and July 2016 and also saw her accused of sharing confidential information about two colleagues.

The warning was placed on her registration and alongside conditions which she must stick to.

A decision notice by the care watchdog said: “Residents are entitled to be treated in a respectful manner which is consistent with how any person would wish to be treated in their own home.

“Choosing when they go to bed is a basic right of residents in a care home service and care staff are employed to care for residents and respect their choices, not to impose their own wishes or preferences on them.

“Communicating abruptly with AA when she got out of bed is a further example of you failing to respect residents’ choices.”

Woodcock must write a reflective account of why her actions were unacceptable and seek to undergo further training regarding adult protection and dementia.