Senior care worker struck off after repeatedly humiliating vulnerable resident
A Glasgow care worker has been struck off after repeatedly humiliating vulnerable resident.
A disciplinary panel heard, Daniel Akers, a senior care worker at Rowandale Nursing Home in Pollokshields, Glasgow, is said to have abused the elderly woman ‘for his own gratification.’
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) disciplinary hearing was told Akers told a dementia patient, ‘You remind me of my mother and I f****** hate my mother’.
Akers also repeatedly asked her where the toilet was, knowing she did not have the capacity to answer. He repeatedly lied to the elderly woman, saying he was on the phone to someone she knew.
The pensioner was also told to wear her jacket indoors ‘in an attempt to humiliate her’ and a further charge found Akers pushed her in the back.
The SSSC said Akers’ actions, which took place between December 2017 and March 2018, ‘represented a very significant and concerning breach of trust in a pattern of verbal, physical and psychological abuse.’
Adding, his behaviour was ‘serious and was at odds with the behaviour expected of a social services worker.’
Evidence against Akers was reported by three members of staff, who were all in more junior positions at the home. This evidence was said to be broadly consistent and credible during the hearing.
Akers denied the allegations and suggested that his colleagues had been unhappy at changes made to shift patterns and stopping cigarette breaks.
The hearing report summary criticised Akers saying: “You were in a position of trust in relation to a very vulnerable service user. You appeared to have taken a deliberate decision to abuse that trust and to subject her to a pattern of verbal, physical and psychological abuse for your own gratification. She relied on you to provide care, and you abused that.
“Your case represented a very significant and concerning breach of trust.There was no insight, regret or apology, no acknowledgement of wrongdoing, and no acknowledgement that you should have behaved differently. You appeared to have taken no steps to address the issues.”
The SSSC concluded the only appropriate order was removal from the Register.
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