Social worker may be struck off over series of allegations

A social worker who worked for a leading north-east charity is facing a catalogue of serious allegations over her conduct.

Jill Killen will appear in private at a disciplinary hearing in Dundee on Friday to face a series of charges relating to her time working for Grampian Society for the Blind.

Ms Killen, thought to have lived and worked in Moray, could be struck off by the Scottish Social Services Council if the allegations are upheld.

It is claimed she “failed in her duties as a social worker” and she is also accused of “lying”.

Ms Killen is alleged to have “consistently” failed to make contact with four people referred to the charity between September 2005 and July 2007 within the required 14-day period.

She is further accused of failing to make contact with one person for a year-and-a-half, and of not visiting the client for almost two years.

It has also been claimed Ms Killen took eight months to contact and visit another vulnerable person, in addition to similar charges relating to two others.

It is alleged that as a result, “vulnerable service users were not timeously assessed or provided with appropriate support or services”.

Ms Killen is also accused of failing to keep clear and accurate records of her cases, and not processing application forms which could have benefited her clients.

She is said to have acted “dishonestly” in that she allegedly shredded the management copy of her supervision notes, before falsely claiming there was no electronic copy of the papers.

The alleged failures are said to have occurred after Ms Killen received a final written warning in June 2004, following a finding of serious misconduct in which she was said to have misled her team leader about the processing of benefits forms.

Ms Killen was originally due to face the charges in September, but her hearing was postponed until last month.

It was then rearranged for this week.