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Social worker struck off ‘after lying to colleagues’

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‏A social worker who falsely claimed a mother had threatened to kill herself has been struck off.

The unnamed female social worker told her manager that the woman had not only threatened suicide but also said she would kill her children and burn down her house.

Unsurprisingly her three children were taken into emergency care and the social worker did not own up until five days later, when an interim care order was due to take place.

The local authority referred to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), which regulates social workers. The woman also made a self-referral CommunityCare reports.

She was twice suspended for periods of 12 months each, before the conduct and competence committee of the HCPC finally took the decision to expel her from the profession.

At a hearing in 2015, the HSPC described her conduct as “deplorable”, saying:

“[The mother] had her children removed almost certainly based on a sequence of events initiated by what the [social worker] had said. This was at an ex-parte hearing meaning that [the mother] would not have known or been in a position to have challenged the evidence given by the [social worker]”.

The HSPC was also critical of the social worker’s reported failure to maintain professional boundaries with the mother, saying she had been too chatty and personal in her approach, even sharing cigarettes with her.

At the more recent hearing, held last month, the committee claimed the social worker had failed to display any real insight into the consequences of her behaviour.

“She has not taken the opportunities provided to her by the two previous panels to demonstrate that she has reflected on her misconduct. In the absence of any information that the misconduct has been remedied, the panel has concluded that there is a real risk of repetition.”

The blog team at Stowe is a group of writers based across our family law offices who share their advice on the wellbeing and emotional aspects of divorce or separation from personal experience. As well as pieces from our family law solicitors, guest contributors also regularly contribute to share their knowledge.

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Comments(5)

  1. Andrew says:

    Why unnamed? Other professionals who do that much harm do not enjoy anonymity.

  2. Paul says:

    May I ask were you make such complaints about social workers ? I entered a statement before my family court hearing. A first hand witness account that the CAFCAS worker had lied to the court during a previous case and more importantly lied about the wishes of the children in the case. I submited this before my final hearing and it was ‘ommited’.

  3. S Bagnall says:

    All social workers lie and get away with it what a disgusting profession

  4. Darren says:

    this social worker has changed her name and has been allowed to return the social services and is doing the same again

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