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Inverness care worker struck off by the Scottish Social Services Council for incident involving resident with dementia where he was ‘violent, aggressive and physically abusive’





Inverness care worker has been struck off by the Scottish Social Services Council for incident involving resident with dementia.
Inverness care worker has been struck off by the Scottish Social Services Council for incident involving resident with dementia.

An Inverness care worker has been removed from the social services register after he pushed a vulnerable man with dementia against a wall, as well as throwing him to the floor.

The ruling about Paul Ferguson, which was made by the Scottish Social Services Council, came into effect today after the organisation found that his fitness to practice was not up to the required standard.

According to the official report, Mr Ferguson – who was registered as a support worker in a care home service for adults in the city – carried out the incidents on October 9, 2019.

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The report states that Mr Ferguson used his victim’s Zimmer frame to push him back against a wall – the man is known only as AA to protect his identity.

In addition, Mr Ferguson pushed and held AA against the wall by his shoulder before he took hold of his clothing at his chest area and threw him to the floor.

And, when AA was on the floor, Mr Ferguson sat straddled on top of him with his legs on either side of his body and pressed down on his chest with his forearm.

The report states that, by his actions, Mr Ferguson had used “excessive and unnecessary force on AA” and his fitness to practise was impaired because of his misconduct.

It rules that his fitness to practise is impaired because social service workers were expected to treat vulnerable residents in their care with dignity and respect, and to protect them from harm.

It adds: “Your conduct was violent, aggressive and physically abusive. The level of force you used was wholly unwarranted in the circumstances, risking serious physical, emotional and psychological harm to an extremely vulnerable resident with dementia.

“Social service workers are also expected to be able to control their actions and temper, even when faced with challenging situations.”

The report also states that Mr Ferguson had not been able to show any remediation in practice since the incident and he had shown no insight into his conduct.


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