Watchdog rules Inverness care home manager dishonestly tried to conceal from new employer he was already under investigation
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THE manager of an Inverness children's care home dishonestly tried to conceal from his employers that he was already under investigation by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) from previous employment.
The SSSC has placed a warning on Barry Mackay's social services registration for a year from December.
SSSC investigation ruled that Barry Mackay's fitness to practise is impaired as a result of his actions and that the warning sanction was appropriate because Mr Mackay "in providing an explanation to his employer for his dishonest behaviour, engaged in further dishonesty."
The SSSC judgment said Mr Mackay's actions "were deliberate and carried out when he had a senior position, and his conduct was sufficiently serious to bring the social services profession into disrepute."
The SSSC found that in Mr Mackay's favour he had a lengthy period of registration previously without complaint.
Mr Mackay was manager at the Common Thread Ltd home at Pollbreac outside Inverness, but between February 4, 2019 and May 8, 2019, while under investigation by the SSSC for a previous allegation, he failed to inform the SSSC that he had started new employment with Common Thread Ltd.
The SSSC investigation also found there was evidence that on or around July 22, 2019, Mr Mackay advised two colleagues at Common Thread that he had "limited communication from the SSSC, or words to that effect," and that he "thought the SSSC investigation had gone away, or words to that effect, knowing this was not the case."
The SSSC found that Mr Mackay had acted dishonestly in that his motivation was to conceal from Common Thread Ltd the disciplinary proceedings at his previous employment and the related SSSC investigation.
The SSSC also found that on or around May 1 2019, Mr MacKay failed to ensure that a colleague at Common Thread had an incident debrief after being involved in a "violent and aggressive incident" with a service user that left the colleague anxious, and his fitness to practise was also impaired because of this misconduct.
In the adjudication released this week the SSSC told Mr Mackay: "Your fitness to practise is impaired because social service workers must be truthful, open, honest and trustworthy.
"Your actions were dishonest. Your motivation was concealing previous disciplinary proceedings and the related SSSC investigation from your new employer.
"In doing so, you prevented them from accurately assessing whether you posed a risk to the health and wellbeing of service users. Your actions were a breach of trust of your new employer, and risked bringing the social service workforce and the SSSC as a regulator into disrepute."
The judgment added: "Social service workers must follow practices and procedures designed to keep you and other people safe from violent and abusive behaviour at work.
"You failed to ensure a colleague had an incident debrief after he had been involved in a violent and aggressive incident that had left him anxious.
"In doing so, you failed to take steps which could have addressed his anxiety. That indicated disrespect for the worker and an indifference to his health and wellbeing.
"Your actions prevented you and your employer from being fully informed of the incident. This could have prevented you from identifying steps which would have avoided a similar incident in future, or reduced the risk of one.
"Your dishonest actions breached a fundamental tenet of the profession. There was a pattern of dishonest behaviour.
The SSSC added: "While you had previously worked in the social services sector for around 10 years, you have not returned since."
Mr Mackay had not responded to a written invitation to attend a hearing said the SSSC.
Common Thread Ltd said Mr Mackay's employment was terminated in 2019.
