A carer who 'foolishly' accepted a £20,000 cheque from a vulnerable resident she was supposed to be looking after has been struck off.
Sharon Bell claimed the cash was going to be used to buy a car to take the elderly man and his dog out more often.
But bank bosses refused to release funds to the Kilmarnock carer because of the sum of cash involved and the man's vulnerability.
And when the incident came to light at Torrance Lodge, Bell was suspended.
The resident who handed over the huge cheque had told a witness he liked Bell and was unhappy at the probe launched into the matter.
Subsequently, the furious service user left the care home because of the investigation into Bell that was ongoing at the time.
And a report from the Scottish Social Services Council said Bell moved in with the man and became his personal carer in his own home.
The service user has since died, the record stated.
At a recent care watchdog hearing Bell was removed from the register due to the serious breach involving the cheque.
Officials determined that Bell accepted the cheque between July 8 and 13 in 2020 while employed at Torrance Lodge in the town. She had only been working at the care home for ten months.
A dossier on the incident said: "The behaviour found proved is serious. There has been an abuse of trust.
"Social service workers are in a trusted position and are expected to recognise and use responsibly the power and authority they have when caring for vulnerable people and to not abuse this position of trust.
"Accepting a personal cheque for the sum of £20,000 from a resident is a serious breach of your employer’s policy about accepting gifts and money from people who use services.
"The panel agree with the Presenter that this is a significant sum of money.
"Your actions demonstrate a serious abuse of the position of trust you had in your role as carer of a vulnerable resident."
The panel stated that Bell had admitted in submissions that she had behaved "foolishly" and acknowledged that she had "hurt the caring profession" and the impact that it had on her family and also realised that families of residents would "not feel secure that carers are accepting cheques".
The care watchdog also reported: "Your behaviour amounts to abuse of a position of trust and exploitation of a vulnerable resident.
"The behaviour is serious and there is a risk of repetition due to lack of insight, increasing the risk of repetition.
"Your behaviour, in accepting the cheque, is indicative of a values issue.
"A reasonable member of the public would likely be shocked that an individual that accepted a £20,000 cheque from a resident in their care would be allowed to continue to work with vulnerable people.
"Action requires to be taken in this case to address this behaviour and maintain good standards of practise."
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