Social Worker Admonished Following Conduct Hearing In London

A Conduct Committee of the General Social Care Council (GSCC) yesterday 7 March 2007 decided the case of a social worker from Wolverhampton who was alleged to have breached the code of practice for social care workers by driving with excess of alcohol and failing to declare the conviction to the GSCC.

Misconduct was found against the registrant, Laura Lee, and she was admonished, with a record of the admonishment to be placed on her entry in the Social Care Register for a period of five years.

The Committee found the conviction of driving with excess alcohol and the failure to declare the conviction to the GSCC to be serious misconduct. In determining the period of the admonishment, the Committee took in to account that no direct harm had been caused to service users, although it acknowledged the need to protect the wider public. The record of the five year admonishment on her registration can be accessed by future employers and service users through the Social Care Register.

Registrants have a right of appeal to the independent Care Standards Tribunal.

GSCC Chair Rodney Brooke Said: “Social workers have a duty to act appropriately at all times, respecting the rights of service users and protecting them from abuse as set out in our Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers and Employers. All Registered Social Workers sign up to the codes of practice when they register with the GSCC.

“Social workers working with vulnerable people essentially should be trustworthy and of good character. The GSCC exists to promote high standards among social care workers and can take action against those who do not meet the standards laid down in the codes of practice. At the same time, we applaud the many thousands of social care workers who meet those standards and do so much to help vulnerable people.”

Admonishment by the GSCC amounts to a caution and public record. The decision follows a two day Conduct Committee hearing in London.