Social worker reported six deaths in the family to claim leave

A social worker has been struck off after falsely telling bosses she had six family members die within an 18-month period and taking compassionate leave totaling almost two months.

Social worker Rachael A. Miles had only been working at the 16+ team at Solihull council for two weeks when she claimed her father had been in a car accident. She reported he had died a few days later.

A month later she claimed her mother had been sectioned under the mental health act for suicide attempts and she needed to go home to be her carer. She then reported her mother had died following surgery.

Between March 2010 and November 2011, she reported a total of six deaths in her family, including her aunt, uncle, brother and her ex-husband. A formal investigation was carried out following concerns about the reasons given and the inaccuracies in the information supplied by Miles. It was found she had taken a total of 66 days of absence on false grounds.

Health and Care Professions Council panel chair Alexander Yule said Miles had shown very little insight or remorse for the impact her actions had had on her employer, the rest of the social work team and on vulnerable service users.

Miles did not attend the hearing, but claimed in written evidence that she had no memory of reporting the deaths to her employers.