A care worker has been given a warning after breaching Covid rules while working at a Perthshire care home.
Karen Bloomfield will have a warning on her registration as a carer for 18 months after she took a service user from ASC Perth, which is run by Balhousie Care Group, to her home during the pandemic.
According to a report by watchdog the SSSC, Bloomfield put a person who was at “high risk” if they caught Covid-19 in unnecessary danger.
ASC Perth, near Balbeggie, houses both the Dalguise Centre and Orchard Court Care Home.
Perthshire care home user was at ‘high risk’ if they caught Covid
The report says that on January 9 2021, Bloomfield took a service user into her home for around 25 minutes.
The action was found to be in breach of the Scottish Government lockdown restrictions at the time.
The report said: “Due to health reasons, (service user) AA was at high risk if they contracted Covid-19 and your actions put AA at unnecessary risk of infection.
“Your actions blurred the lines of professional boundaries and could have been confusing for AA.
“You provided an alternative version of events in which you returned home to change your trousers because you were unwell and AA stayed in the car at first but then came to the gate of your home.
“Although that does not match the information we have, in both situations you have failed to recognise that AA should not have been at your home or left unattended.
“You also failed to inform your employer that you had been unwell and had to go home, which suggests that you were aware you should not have done it.”
Carer at Perthshire home had ‘limited insight’ on Covid rules breach
The incident was said to have been “isolated” and Bloomfield was found to have co-operated with the SSSC investigation.
The service user also suffered no direct harm as a result of Bloomfield’s actions.
However, the watchdog still had concerns about Bloomfield’s “limited insight” and “reflection” on her behaviour.
Bloomfield has not been employed in the care sector for a sustained period since the incident.
The Courier has been unable to reach Bloomfield for comment.
A spokesperson for Balhousie Care Group said: “Ms Bloomfield was employed with ASC from June 2020, prior to the incident in question, nearly three years ago.
“On notification of the incident, we acted immediately to thoroughly investigate the circumstances and ensure appropriate action was taken swiftly.
“From the investigation, we instigated our disciplinary process with Ms Bloomfield, at which point she resigned from our service.
“We do not tolerate anything other than a safe, caring, supportive and dignified environment for our service users, more than ever during the pandemic, when we were acutely aware that our service user protection was paramount.”
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