Support worker banned from industry for getting friend to cover Glasgow care home shift
A watchdog said the residents "had the right to expect" that the staff on shift had been fully vetted and trained.
Monday 16 January 2023 15:47, UK
A carer has been banned from working in the industry after arranging for a friend to cover their shift without telling their boss.
Support worker Olumide Ajileye's behaviour was branded "dishonest" by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).
In a written ruling, the watchdog said: "Your actions amount to an abuse of trust.
"You sent a person not known to the SSSC, the agency or the care home to carry out your shift.
"This care home is the resident's home and you do not appear to have considered their right to privacy or their right to know who is in their home. Your actions placed residents at a risk of harm."
The incident occurred at Chester Park Care Home in Glasgow in July 2022.
Ajileye was reportedly unable to attend a shift at short notice and attempted to arrange for their friend to take their place without the knowledge of their employer.
The SSSC found Ajileye's fitness to practise impaired and struck them off the care register.
The watchdog stated: "Your behaviour was dishonest. Instead of contacting your employer to advise that you were unable to complete the shift, you contacted a friend, and asked them to attend for you.
"Your motivation for this appears to have been to avoid a penalty for the late cancellation of your shift. This person did not disclose immediately that they were attending in your place.
"Your behaviour could also have placed the residents of that care home at risk. Had this unidentified person been able to carry out your shift, they would likely have been required to carry out intimate personal care and to have been alone with residents."
The SSSC highlighted that the residents "had the right to expect" that the staff on shift had been fully vetted and trained to carry out the duties required of them.
In conclusion, the watchdog said a removal order was the "most appropriate sanction" to maintain the "continuing trust and confidence in the social service profession and the SSSC as the regulator of the profession".
The removal order came into effect on 3 January.
A spokesperson for Chester Park Care Home said: "Our staff immediately became suspicious on the arrival of the substitute agency carer, who left the home only minutes afterwards, having at no time interacted with any resident."