A 20-year-old Scottish caregiver, Cara MacLennan, has been banned from working in social care following a ruling condemning her conduct as abusive. The incident occurred last February at the Eilean Dubh Care Home in Fortrose, located in the Scottish Highlands. MacLennan took a photograph of an elderly resident on the toilet, posed disrespectfully with a "v" for victory sign alongside the resident, and shared the image on Snapchat with mocking captions that included "can't see me ha ha ha" and "doesn't know what I'm doing."
The photo was subsequently circulated further when a friend of MacLennan shared it on a public Facebook page, where it attracted widespread attention. The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), responsible for regulating care standards, responded by stripping MacLennan of her caring credentials and labelled her conduct as abusive.
The ruling published on Monday highlighted the severity of the offence, stating, "You have taken a selfie photograph of a resident and thereafter added derogatory remarks about her, before sending this to a friend via a social media platform." It added, "Your behaviour of sending the photograph had consequences, whereby these were posted by a third person on a public Facebook page which caused concern to the public in general." The report stressed the breach of trust inherent in MacLennan's actions: "Your behaviour therefore amounts to an abuse of trust and showed a level of disregard for the Codes of Practice and amounted to abuse of a vulnerable resident."
Further details from the hearing revealed that MacLennan had been dismissed from her previous employer and had falsified information on a job application, claiming she left her former job due to having been offered another position, whereas she had in fact been terminated. She also failed to disclose the ongoing SSSC investigation into the incident. The panel commented, "You were dismissed from your employment and failed to disclose the reason for this dismissal which shows a level of dishonesty and concealment. You also demonstrated a lack of integrity by not disclosing that you were subject to a SSSC investigation."
The panel deemed MacLennan's conduct "extremely serious" and fundamentally incompatible with maintaining registration in the care profession. As a result, she was issued a Removal Order, prohibiting her from working in social care indefinitely. The panel stated, "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."
The Daily Record provided detailed coverage of the ruling, emphasising the breach of professional codes and trust involved in the case. The ban on MacLennan aims to uphold safeguarding standards and public confidence in social care services.
Source: Noah Wire Services