Childcare worker unfit to practise

A RESIDENTIAL childcare worker has been removed from the Register of Social Care Workers for putting young people at risk.

The care worker, from Merthyr Tydfil, has been removed from the register after a Social Care Wales hearing found his fitness to practise was impaired.

Barrie John Gilby was accused of failing to follow a child’s care plan by allowing unsupervised contact between the child and the child’s family.

The committee heard Mr Gilby failed to prevent a child’s family taking the child on a shopping trip in December 2016, even though the child’s care plan stated the child wasn’t to have unsupervised contact with his family.

When the child didn’t return, Mr Gilby failed to promptly notify the home, the local authority and the police.

He also failed to follow the instructions he received from his manager to try to resolve the matter.

The committee decided to remove Mr Gilby from the register, saying: “We are of the view that only a Removal Order will be adequate in this case, to ensure public confidence in the process and the social care profession, and to adequately protect the public and, in particular, vulnerable young people.”

The hearing was also told about other occasions where Mr Gilby failed to follow instructions from his management.

During one incident he drove a child to Fairwater in Cardiff, despite being told not to go there because of the risk of the child absconding. The child then absconded. There was also another occasion when he failed to supervise a child in school and left the premises, despite being told not to do so.

The headteacher had to ask Mr Gilby to return to the school to remove the child after he damaged property and threatened staff.

Mr Gilby, who wasn’t present at the three-day hearing in Cardiff, also sent an abusive text to his manager, using inappropriate language, and submitted a timesheet claiming for hours he hadn’t worked.

After considering all the evidence, the committee decided that Mr Gilby’s fitness to practise was impaired because of his serious misconduct, which put vulnerable young people at risk of harm.

The committee said: “We found no evidence to suggest that Mr Gilby has learned from previous errors and incidents where he has demonstrated poor judgement.

“As such, we are of the view that the quality of Mr Gilby’s decisionmaking is still in question.

“There’s no evidence that Mr Gilby has undertaken any learning or reflection, or developed a better understanding of his role.”