Colleagues were unable to tell doctor full details of what happened Support worker warned after causing eye injury

A DUNFERMLINE support worker has received a warning after injuring a service-user in their home.

Katriona McDonald, an employee with Scottish Autism, was told by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) that her fitness to practise had been impaired.

On or around January 17, 2021, McDonald raised her foot when being approached by a female serviceuser, only described as AA, which resulted in a collision with her head, causing an eye injury.

The decision report said that she concealed her behaviour by failing to inform colleagues of what had happened at the time and did not record the incident in the nightshift log, meaning that the person was misdiagnosed by a doctor.

According to the SSSC, this was a misuse of power in that the serviceuser could not communicate.

McDonald’s colleagues were unable to tell the doctor the full details of the injury and could not comfort her properly.

The report stated further that social service staff had a responsibility to be truthful, open, honest and trustworthy.

It read: “The behaviour is serious. Your failure to disclose what happened meant the doctor misdiagnosed the service-user and she was without proper treatment.

“Your colleagues were confused about what happened to the serviceuser and therefore were unable to properly comfort her.

“As the service-user didn’t have capacity to say what happened, you were the only person who could have supported in this situation.

“This was a misuse of the power you hold in your position as a carer for this service-user and, as a result, you caused prolonged suffering to the service-user.”

It went on to detail that McDonald failed to co-operate with the SSSC investigation, which they said raised questions about whether she appreciated the seriousness and impact of her behaviour.

The authority placed a warning on her registration for a period of two years.

They stated this was because, “you put your foot out towards the service-user’s face as the serviceuser was crawling towards you.

“This has resulted in the serviceuser’s face colliding with your foot.

“This isn’t a professional or caring way to act when a service-user is crawling towards a worker and would most likely cause some level of physical harm, and indeed did cause physical and emotional harm.

“This occurred inside work, in the service-user’s home.

“The service-user cannot communicate and therefore relies on workers to use their power responsibly and care for them correctly.

“You failed to disclose the truth to your colleagues or the GP, resulting in them not having any idea what had happened to the serviceuser all day.

“This resulted in further harm to the service-user as the GP misdiagnosed her, resulting in her being without correct treatment or pain relief.

“You have failed to provide your comments to the SSSC despite advising us numerous times that you would.”

Factors in her favour were that she had a good history with the SSSC and that, since the behaviour occurred 18 months ago, she had remained employed in the same role with the same employer and no matters had been referred to the SSSC since.