A care worker who mocked an incontinent old man at a rural nursing home in the Scottish Highlands has been struck off.
Dawn Scobbie was working at the Castle Gardens care home in Invergordon when she called the resident “a dirty old man” and told him he was “disgusting” because he had wet himself.
A disciplinary committee of the Scottish Social Services Council, meeting in Dundee, ruled she had shown “a pattern of abusive and neglectful behaviour towards vulnerable individuals in her care”.
She referred to another resident as “perverted” and when a third frail old man soiled himself, she put her face close to his and shouted, “you’re the one that done this”.
Scobbie also, on more than one occasion, took a vulnerable old man to the lounge while he was only wearing his pyjama top and underpants and left him there.
The committee found that between October 2013 and December 2015, Scobbie had demonstrated behaviour “of a serious nature” which involved the verbal abuse, intimidation and neglect of vulnerable adults in her care.
It said that, in particular, the behaviour she demonstrated towards the resident who had soiled himself “demonstrated a concerning loss of control on your part, which resulted in the resident becoming distressed”.
The committe added: “Such behaviour is not easily remediable and suggests a deep seated attitudinal problem.”
Ordering Scobbie – who no longer works in the care sector – to be struck off the SSSC Register for Support Workers, the committee added: “Should the public become aware of the facts of this case, they would have grave concerns about you returning to work in the sector with vulnerable members of society.”
A spokeswoman for the home said today: “The behaviour of this individual goes against the principles of compassion, kindness and dignity that we pride ourselves on as an organisation.
“We are exceptionally proud of the high-quality care and support we provide, and strongly support the role of the SSSC in ensuring care workers in Scotland meet the highest standards.”
“Castle Gardens is rated ‘Very Good’ by the Care Inspectorate (November 2017), and our staff team is committed to delivering the kindest possible care to all of our Residents. We also receive regular positive feedback from the relatives of our residents, being rated 9.6/10 on the independent comparison website carehome.co.uk.”
