Conduct Hearings Archive 2007

Click on the titles below to access notices from conduct hearings concluded in 2007. Decisions from hearings concluded in other years can be accessed from the Hearings Archives on the left side of this page. Conduct decisions can also be searched according to Registrant Name.

You can use the Check the NISCC Register function on this website to confirm if a person is currently registered with the NISCC. If the details you are searching for are not found or if you require further information about a sanction made against a registrant, contact the NISCC Enquiries Team for adviceTel: 028 9041 7600 or email: info@nisocialcarecouncil.org.uk

 

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12/12/07	Social Care Worker - Margaret Ellen Rea (Registration No NI/1135847)Removed from NI Social CAre Register
08/11/07	Social Worker - Anne Colhoun (Registration No NI/1135847) Removed from NI Social Care Register

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12/12/07

Social Care Worker (Margaret Ellen Rea Registration Number NI/1135847) Removed from the NI Social Care Register

A Conduct Committee of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) on 12 December 2007 decided the case of a social care worker from Belfast who was alleged to have breached the NISCC's Code of Practice for Social Care Workers by sleeping on duty and having failed to check on a service user at the appropriate time.

Misconduct was found against the Registrant, Ms Margaret Ellen Rea (Registration Number NI/1135847) and she was removed from the Social Care Register.

In arriving at the decision to remove the Registrant from the Register, the Committee regarded that sleeping on duty and consequently failing to check service users in her care at the appropriate time was a most serious breach of the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers. Ms Rea had breached the requirements in the Code that Registrants must be honest, trustworthy, reliable and dependable; and that they must not abuse, neglect or harm service users, carers or colleagues. She was also found to have behaved in a way that called into question her suitability to work in social care services and she had not met relevant standards of practice. The Committee also took into account that the Registrant had not made any representation to the Committee or presented any evidence of mitigating factors relating to this case.

Dr Jeremy Harbison , NISCC Chair, said:

“Registration with the Council requires each worker to make a personal and professional commitment to high standards in their training and practice. Social care workers have a vital role in supporting and protecting the needs of older people, people with a disability, children and families; helping them to live as safely and independently as possible. Registrants must be honest, reliable and dependable. They have a duty to act appropriately at all times and to ensure that they do not place service users, colleagues or themselves under unnecessary risk.”

“The establishment of the NISCC Social Care Register is a major step towards improving and maintaining standards in social work and social care. There are over 200,000 people using social care services in Northern Ireland and they can now have confidence that the small number of workers registered with the NISCC who do not meet our minimum standards, will be held accountable and can be cautioned or removed from the Register where the Council deems it necessary to protect the public from poor standards of conduct or practice.”

 

 

08/11/07

Social Worker (Anne Colhoun Registration Number NI/1038550) Removed from the NI Social Care Register

A Conduct Committee of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) on 8 November 2007 decided the case of a social worker from Belfast who was alleged to have breached the NISCC's Code of Practice for Social Care Workers by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a service user.

Misconduct was found against the Registrant Ms Anne Colhoun (Registration Number NI/1038550) and she was removed from the Social Care Register. Removal from the Register means that the person will not be able to work as a social worker in the UK.

In arriving at the decision to remove the Registrant from the Register, the Committee took into account evidence provided in writing by the Registrant, however, the Committee found that the Registrant's personal relationship with a service user in her care was inappropriate. Having considered Ms Colhoun's extensive experience as a qualified social worker, the Committee found that the Registrant, despite being fully aware of the service user's serious criminal convictions, was unprofessional and placed herself at risk.

The Committee also considered that the Registrant had failed to acknowledge that the personal nature of her relationship with a person for whom she was professionally responsible was inappropriate and she had continued with this relationship despite advice from other professionals.

Dr Jeremy Harbison, NISCC Chair, said:

“Registration with the Council requires each worker to make a personal and professional commitment to high standards in their training and practice. Social care workers have a vital role in supporting and protecting the needs of older people, people with a disability, children and families; helping them to live as safely and independently as possible. Registrants have a duty to act appropriately at all times and manage professional relationships to ensure that they do not place service users, colleagues or themselves under unnecessary risk.”

“The establishment of the NISCC Social Care Register is a major step towards improving and maintaining standards in social work and social care. There are over 200,000 people using social care services in Northern Ireland and they can now have confidence that the small number of workers registered with the NISCC who do not meet our minimum standards, will be held accountable and can be cautioned or removed from the Register where the Council deems it necessary to protect the public from poor standards of conduct or practice.”