A Fife residential care worker has been handed a warning for giving youngster she was working with £10 in pocket money.
Sharee Mullan, who works for Fife Council, has had a warning placed on her record for 18 months.
A report by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) says Mullan was caring for the youngster while working at Maidstone Residential Care Home in Leven.
The facility cares for youngsters aged between nine and 18, and was rated positively in its most recent inspection.
Fife carer was ‘dishonest’ about actions
The report says on or around February 21 last year, she allowed the young man, identified only as “AA”, to be unsupervised in Dunfermline when she “knew that he was not permitted to be in the area”.
It was also found she gave AA £10 in what it described as pocket money, knowing that AA was not allowed to spend unsupervised.
Mullan is also said to have told a colleague that AA had used the money to get food from a chip shop and kept the change, which she knew to be untrue.
The SSSC says this was dishonest and fell below the standards expected of Mullan.
The report said: “After taking AA to a location where he was not permitted to be and giving him money which he was not permitted to have on his person, you were then dishonest about what you had done with the service user and what he had spent his money on.”
Carer ‘did not intend to put youngster at harm’
The regulator says it accepts that Mullan did not intend to place AA at risk of harm.
But it said: “You breached the trust placed in you as a professional in the sector and a registered worker by failing to adhere to the service user’s care plan and arrangements that had been put in place to ensure the service user’s safety and wellbeing.”
Fife Council [has] indicated that you are a highly regarded member of staff
SSSC ruling
In determining the sanction, the SSSC says that while Mullan was dishonest about her action, she showed “considerable insight and regret” and offered an apology to her colleagues.
It added: “You have proven continued good practice in your employment with
Fife Council and they have indicated that you are a highly regarded member of staff.”
Fife Council declined to comment, while The Courier has been unable to contact Mullan for comment.
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