A carer has been given an official warning near Edinburgh after he was caught sending ‘inappropriate’ messages to other colleagues.
Craig Thomson had been working at the Newbyres Home in Midlothian when he was found to have sent a string of texts to two different staff members he was managing.
A review by the Scottish Social Serviced Council (SSSC) found that Craig had been the care home manager for a period from 2018, during which he began to message his team.
Between March 2018 and December 2019, two staff members had received flirtatious messages from Mr Thomson, including phrases such as “miss beautiful lol night xx.”
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Other messages included statements such as “wish I was there” and:
"Hiya, don’t worry no pestering you lol i seriously need to get a grip!!! I think for some reason i have a weakness in my armour lol i think i need to delete your number for now so i can get a grip of myself. If you need to txt me for work tho that is absolutely fine xx’
"Right only reason i am telling you is because i kinda like you but i need your word no matter how you take this, it goes no further??"
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A similar incident also occurred in January 2019 with a different colleague, when Mr Thomsson messaged out of the blue because they had been “in his contact list.”
Condemning his behaviour, the SSSC said Mr Thomson had “pushed professional boundaries” and acted “inappropriately.”
An investigation also discovered he had ordered a police welfare check on a member of his team that had been entirely unnecessary, and had failed to inform her about it.
A conclusion read: “Your actions fall below the professional standards expected of registered workers. You have acted in a way in which you repeatedly breached professional boundaries.
Furthermore, in arranging a police welfare check for a colleague when you were aware that it was not necessary, you have placed that colleague in a stressful situation.
"Your actions placed your colleagues at risk of emotional harm and bring your judgment and integrity as a manager into question.”
A warning was imposed on his record from March 9, 2022.
