Doreen Gielty asserted that the incident was a “joke,” but the Scottish Social Services Council did not accept this explanation.
A support worker was reprimanded for breaking an egg over the head of an infant.
Doreen Gielty asserted that the incident was a “joke” and denied intentionally harming the child.
Due to Ms. Gielty’s admission that she felt unable to manage the child’s “challenging” behavior. Scotland’s care authority did not believe that the actions were a joke.
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) ruled, “Your actions placed a very vulnerable child at a high risk of emotional harm, which raises questions about your fitness to practice as a social service worker, given that your job entails caring for and protecting vulnerable service users from harm.”
The Midlothian caregiver was also reprimanded for waiting three days before reporting the incident.
Even though the minor was not a service user requiring SSSC registration, Ms. Gielty was responsible for their “care, safety, and wellbeing” at the time of the incident, according to the watchdog.
Her actions affected another person in her custody who observed the incident and was angry at her.
The incident occurred in November 2017, before Ms. Gielty’s current registration period.
Before that, the SSSC noted that Gielty was registered between 2007 and 2010 without any conduct concerns being raised.
Her boss has called her “honest and compassionate,” according to the watchdog.
The SSSC issued a warning, stating, “While you were not registered at the time of the behavior, the public should expect that those registered to support some of the most vulnerable members of our society would not humiliate or emotionally harm a child, whether in or outside of their role as a social service worker.
In this instance, your behavior must be deemed unacceptable.
On Thursday, the 12-month warning on Ms. Gielty’s registration went into effect.
