A Shetland support worker will have to retrain after she was deemed unfit to care for others after intentionally trying to provoke a service user in her care.
Catherine Blance was put before the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) after her conduct was questioned by colleagues.
The SSSC panel heard evidence of Ms Blance’s repeated unacceptable behaviour while she was a social care worker for Shetland Islands Council.
The report also outlines instances when she told colleagues she was intentionally trying to annoy a male service user, using phrases including “I’ve been winding him up so much. I would stop if he actually got annoyed.”
Another incident involved Ms Blance pretending to bang her head against the wall saying “Could you not just have told us that the first time,” when the same man asked a question she did not understand.
She also said to a colleague “I’ve spent the whole night winding him up and now I’m going to leave you to deal with it”.
Argued with over the existence of aliens
The man and Ms Blance also began to argue over whether aliens were real, she said “Just because you believe it doesn’t make it true,” causing the patient distress.
A colleague testified that Ms Blance did have a close relationship with the service user in the beginning but could have supported his independence better.
However, according to the report, the colleague felt that over time Ms Blance had “checked out” and would try to goad the patient into potentially violent behaviour.
The SSSC report also states the colleague felt “increasingly unsafe” in her presence.
Ms Blance said she did not recall the cupcake incident and did not believe she banged her head saying it would “not have been appropriate”.
During the interaction about aliens, Ms Blance says the man was not distressed and the conversation was a sign that he was engaging in a broader conversation.
They panel found the interaction about aliens to have been proven, however, they could not prove it had caused the man distress.
More training ordered
It also found proven Ms Blance did pretend to bang her head on the wall with the panel concluding it would have been a “strange allegation to fabricate”.
Witness accounts make clear Ms Blance only “pretended” and that it was a joke and the man did not react.
The panel also found proved that Ms Blance had said she was “winding up” the patient and that the colleague had made a note of what she said.
In conclusion, the panel found Ms Blance’s “fitness to practise was impaired by reason of misconduct”.
Ms Blance will now undergo training on awareness and understanding of patients’ needs and appropriate and effective communication training.
She must also provide a reflective account of what she has learned through training about patients’ needs and how to best communicate with them.
Ms Blance can decide to appeal the decision made by the SSSC panel.
A spokesman for Shetland Islands Council said “We note the decision of the Scottish Social Services Council in this case.”
Conversation