Social worker removed from register after failing to vet foster carers

The Care Council for Wales removes a social worker who did not perform criminal record checks on 10 foster carers

A social worker who went for four months without supervision has been struck off the social work register for failing to vet foster carers.

A Care Council for Wales conduct committee decided to remove the Neath Port Talbot social worker from the register after hearing how she failed to check the health and criminal records of 10 foster carers under her supervision.

The social worker also failed to complete annual reviews of foster carers, to carry out a regulation visit to a children’s home and to complete foster carer supervision records.

The incidents took place over the course of a year from the latter half of 2012 to early 2013.

While the conduct committee did note that a four-month period where she did not receive formal supervision contributed to the failures, it found that the social worker had told managers she was “getting on top of” her work and had a professional duty to inform her manager of difficulties she was having.

The committee also accepted that she was overheard telling a member of the public that she did not know what she was doing.

As such, the committee concluded that her failures breached the code of practice for social workers and put service users at risk, and so removed her from the register.

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3 Responses to Social worker removed from register after failing to vet foster carers

  1. Blimey O Reilley June 9, 2014 at 11:18 pm #

    This is nuts…I dont think anyone could disagree about protecting the public or vulnerable service users and colleagues…but come on..there seems to a consistent narrative that field work social workers are to blame on every occassion. It appears there job is hard enough and carried out in very difficult circumstances. But yet again, the HCPC rule against social workers who are evidentally struggling and genuinely under significant pressure. It worries me very much that even though workers might have 20 years perfect practice with perhaps no issues at all, they make a mistake and when the sword swings it seems that nothing that has gone before matters. THAT IS SAD. What on earth is the point, the profession is beaten down from every angle, let alone by the organisational structures and Government quango’s. Instead of damning staff and blaming worker after worker for failings, be bloomin progressive in your outlook HCPC.
    I considered becoming a Social Worker but not a chance…Lipsky’s theory of being the whipping boys of government, street level door mats more like. I believed Social Work was about making changes, positive changes which at the very core should person centred and supportive of development. So what; people don’t always record everything and they make mistakes…Only if all Social Workers had the time to pontificate in offices reciting chapter and verse of this policy and that policy…oh what a luxury job the HCPC doom bringers appear to have..sitting swinging the axe and pulling up social workers at every opportunity. SAD – VERY SAD.
    Surely; if those members of the ‘fitness to practice’ panels within the HCPC make decisons against Social Workers and are stating investigatory outcomes such as: “The social worker left a service user at risk by their actions/failure to record correctly blah blah” or “The Social Worker failed because they didnt advise they were struggling” etc then this should be actually a reflection on the employer too and corporate charges should be raised against the employers???….After all…”Wer’e all in this together”..oh sorry I forgot…except when your a frontline worker then by default your already face up on the guilotine and very much alone.

  2. Jazz June 9, 2014 at 11:22 pm #

    The Care Council for Wales website reports this Hearing as a Health Hearing and as such details are confidential and not published. It is therefore appalling that this worker’s privacy has been violated by this article being published by Community Care.