Carer struck off after unattended resident falls and breaks leg in Falkirk Council care home

Lorraine Anderson also failed to alert her bosses to the event and, when filling in an incident report, said she had only left the resident alone for “a few minutes” when it was later found to be nearer one hour.

She also, while working at another Falkirk Council care home, gave residents the wrong doses of medicine and tried to cover up her errors.

Her conduct saw her called to a Scottish Social Services Council fitness to practise panel which took place over eight days in November.

At the hearing, the panel decided that some of the allegations against her were proved, that her fitness to practise was impaired, and made the decision to impose a Removal Order on her registration in the part of the Register for Practitioners in a Care Home Service for Adults.

During the hearing, the panel heard that Ms Anderson had been employed as a social care worker by Falkirk Council from July 30, 2001 to September 19, 2019. She worked for them at Grahamston House, Mandela Avenue Falkirk until January 2019, then worked at Cunningham House, Abbotsgrange Road, Grangemouth from January 2019 until September 19, 2019.

The panel said it had been proven that on or around May 30, 2018 she left a resident unattended on a toilet when the person should always have been supervised. This contributed to the resident falling and fracturing her left femur.

Ms Anderson failed to notify a senior duty staff member about the fall and when she completed the incident report form and witness statement, she stated that she had left the resident for “a few minutes” when this was not true.

Panel members also heard it had been proven that on various dates in May and June 2019, she had given different residents the wrong doses of medicine, failed to give one resident their medication and gave another their dose at around 1pm when it should have been 9pm. She also delayed reporting one medication error to a senior staff member.

The panel members said Ms Anderson’s evidence was “at times confused, changeable and inconsistent”. It added: “The panel was concerned by the number of inconsistencies, both within your oral evidence, and between your oral evidence and previous documentary evidence. The panel did not find your evidence credible or reliable.”It concluded: “The panel decided that your fitness to practise is impaired on the grounds of your misconduct in respect of the allegations found proved.“The panel noted that you had 32 years of unblemished service. However, the findings in this case, and the evidence the panel heard, called into question your ability to make sound decisions under pressure. The panel was concerned about the contradictory evidence you gave, and the findings of dishonesty.”

The decision was that the only appropriate outcome was to remove her from the Register.

A spokesperson for Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership said: “It would be inappropriate to comment in any detail on an individual case. The wellbeing and safety of everyone accessing our services is our top priority. Any allegation relating to the quality of our care or staff misconduct has always been investigated immediately, with appropriate action taken as soon as possible. We will always work closely together to implement any recommendations from the Scottish Social Services Council.”