A housing support worker from Ayrshire has been struck off for theft and failing to declare the accepting of cash gifts.
Kirsty Murphy committed the offences while employed by an Ayrshire-based care at home firm.
Murphy, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) stated, took £10 out of a service user’s wife’s handbag, without her knowledge or consent.
And on another two occasions, she accepted £100 as a gift from the same service user’s wife for getting married, then a further £20 as a gift from the same woman for Christmas. The offences took place between April 2015 and July 2020.
Industry regulator the SSSC said the first charge of taking £10 out of the handbag was 'theft' and branded Murphy "dishonest".
In its findings, the SSSC said to Murphy: “Social services workers, in whom service users and the public place their trust and confidence, are expected to act with honesty and integrity at all times.
“You [Murphy] went into the handbag of the wife of a service user and took money, without her knowledge or consent. You abused the trust placed in you and have knowingly caused financial harm.
“Such behaviour is dishonest and fundamentally incompatible with professional registration.”
The SSSC also accused Murphy of acting “contrary” to her employer’s policy on accepting gifts and ‘failing to declare’ that the wife of a service user gave her money on two occasions.
The report continues: “This behaviour breaches the trust and confidence placed in you as a social service worker.”
The SSSC said the offences were of a “high level of seriousness” and the risk of repetition was assessed as "high" given the nature of the behaviours and the concerns.
The organisation also said Murphy had “abused” her position as a care provider and the access she had to a service user’s property to intentionally take money from the bag of their wife.
In conclusion, the SSSC said: “A warning would not be appropriate as it would not adequately address the impairment of your fitness to practice. The behaviour is extremely serious, and a warning would give no protection to service users, or the public.
“The SSSC considers a removal order is the most appropriate sanction as it is both necessary and justified in the public interest and to maintain the continuing trust and confidence in the social service profession and the SSSC as the regulator of the profession.”
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