A social worker who claimed he was bullied by a manager, has been struck off for lying about completing a telephone interview for a fostering assessment.
In a conduct and competence committee hearing, the fostering social worker was also found to have falsified a reference for the same fostering assessment.
He later submitted a misleading application form to a recruitment agency, in what he described as an act of “desperation” after losing his job at the fostering agency.
The application listed his wife as a referee under her maiden name, and said she had worked at his previous employers. The social worker also sent an email reference, supposedly from a manager but which was actually from his wife’s email address, despite the fact she had never worked for the company.
The social worker admitted to filing a false reference for another job, but defended himself as an honest person and insisted he had completed the telephone interview, and did not falsify the fostering assessment. However, those two allegations against him were found proved by the HCPC.
In written evidence, the social worker claimed he had been “bullied” by a manager, and was the victim of a “biased and incomplete investigation” by an investigating officer after the allegation that he lied about completing a telephone call was made.
Difficulties
The panel heard how he had “refused to sign the notes of his supervision” with the manager he alleged had bullied him.
“He states that he had considered making a complaint against her. He also said he had been warned to “watch his back” due to difficulties with this manager,” the panel said.
“He suffered considerable stress and anxiety due to his dismissal and acted out of character when he supplied a false reference in the name of his wife.”
The panel struck him off for what it saw as “repeated and deliberate acts” of dishonesty, and because he had failed to provide detailed evidence of reflection or remediation.
It added how the failings fell “well short” of standards expected of social workers.
“The panel considered dishonesty to be extremely serious, particularly when it is repeated and for personal benefit,” it concluded.
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Dear Community Care,
When will we start reading stories about positive practice?
Or work has made a change?
Regards,
A social worker
Ah, the bullying card……if all else fails etc.
Clearly you’ve never been bullied at work.ee
Stuart, you have made a school boy error by making that assumption. I hope that your
assessments are more rigorous than your perjorative comment. Time for you to up your game………an emotional intelligence course might be the best place for you to start.
Andrew, bullying is prevalent in this field of work and it surprises and saddens me that you make such a comment.
It is always the best way to complete the assessment face to face and obtain the signature from the service users. I cannot comment on his undertaking of the asset. What I am sure it is the some managers can bully their workers and service users can play up with the system and raise allegations. Always Always document, record, obtain their written signature, scan it on the system. Always keep contemporaneous notes and hand writings of the assessment and interviews. Never scrap the hand written interview notes.
What an idiot
Mr Smith I completely agree. Community care you need to stop doing this.
another one who’s capability (or lack of) would have been identifiable during training but not addressed, because no-one want to take responsibility for failing a student – th LA or the college – particularly if placement in LA funding the course.
All who CLAIM to have been bullied have not necessarily been so – sounds like the manager was on to him and trying to address it – so as Andrew notes ‘default’ position assumed………