Scottish care worker struck off after smoking cannabis with a resident and sending excessive messages, violating trust.
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) learned of problems. These incidents happened between November 2023 and April 2024. Aberdeen Live reported that the SSSC investigated.
The worker got the resident’s phone number and then sent many messages to that person. The worker also visited the resident’s home often; these visits happened when the worker was off duty.
The worker and resident smoked cannabis together many times. This impaired the worker’s ability to do their job properly, and the report stated the worker broke the public’s trust.
Social service workers must not form harmful relationships. The worker’s actions crossed professional lines and risked causing emotional harm to the resident. This behavior does not fit social service work.
The resident, called AA in the report, became too close to the aide. The public would worry about this repeated behavior, which confused AA about their relationship.
The worker should have supported AA professionally only. Instead, they made AA feel confused and did not say they could not visit after work. Smoking cannabis with AA broke the law.
The worker abused AA’s trust by acting inappropriately. The behavior went on for about four months, and the worker hasn’t worked in social care since the incident. They could not prove they would not repeat the actions.
The worker showed remorse and cooperated fully. However, they still got struck off from the profession, and this action began on February 15.