Care worker who told patient to ‘go and die’ struck off

A CARE home worker who told an elderly lady to ‘just hurry up and die’ and that he wished there was a bomb under her chair has been struck off from working in the profession.

Barry Wilton made a series of offensive remarks towards a woman in his care including ‘don’t you dare give me a dirty look’ and ‘go and die’.

He also threatened to drop a kettle onto her head, and laughed and joked about the person he should have been looking after behind her back.

He also slammed something she had asked for in front of her, refused to take her to the toilet and told her to ‘hurry up and eat’.

Wilton also behaved ‘in a verbally abusive and disrespectful manner’ to two other vulnerable women in his care, referring to one as a ‘wee b **** ’ to his colleagues, and swearing at another.

Wilton’s behaviour continued with a third woman.

When she asked for sugar he told her she didn’t need it, before later slamming it on the table in front of her and saying ‘there, your majesty’.

He referred to the same resident as a ‘horrible woman’, called her ‘very moody’ and ‘demanding’ and said he ‘hated her’.

The incidents took place in and around November and December 2014 while Wilton was employed as a care assistant in the Mayfield Unit at Balhousie St Ronan’s Care Home, in Dundee.

After a two-day hearing at the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) headquarters in Dundee, Wilton was found to have committed misconduct on all charges.

The sub-committee concluded it had no option but to remove him from the social services register.

In a written statement of the outcome, it said: ‘The misconduct found was deliberate, involving numerous incidents of verbal abuse and disrespectful behaviour towards vulnerable service users. Your behaviour posed a risk of potentially significant harm to service users in your care.’

The statement also spelled out: ‘There was no evidence of any insight or regret into your failings, or of a willingness to change your behaviour.

‘There was no evidence of rehabilitative or corrective steps having been taken.

‘The sub-committee did not consider that there was a low risk of recurrence.’

It added: ‘The misconduct found suggest[s] harmful deep-seated personality or attitudinal problems.’

The sub-committee accepted that Wilton had co-operated with the investigation from the outset, but it considered that the level of co-operation was ‘minimal’.

The residents of the 66-bed home where Wilton worked are all 65 years old and over.

They are frail and many of them suffer from conditions such as dementia, heart disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Wilton was suspended in December 2014, pending an investigation into the allegations.

He resigned in January 2015, before a disciplinary hearing scheduled by his employer could take place.

A spokesman for Balhousie Care Group said: ‘Barry Wilton’s actions were reported by staff to Balhousie Care Group’s management team, who subsequently alerted all appropriate authorities of these allegations of misconduct.

‘Balhousie Care Group takes a zerotolerance approach to abusive behaviour and our team makes every effort to deliver good quality care to all residents entrusted to us.

‘We are pleased to hear that the SSSC has reached this decision, underpinning our actions and those of our team to ensure that all our residents live in a safe environment with a focus on respect, dignity and comfort.’

‘No evidence of any regret’