West Lothian care worker who stole money from resident's purse while they showered struck off

The Scottish Social Services Council told Donna Fairley she had ‘abused her position of trust’.

A West Lothian care worker who stole money from a resident’s purse while they showered has been struck off.

The Scottish Social Services Council banned Donna Fairley from working in the sector after saying she had ‘abused her position of trust’.

Fairley took cash from the same vulnerable service user on three occasions over the course of a week while employed as a care-at-home worker in April last year.

A carer was struck off for stealing money from a resident. Picture: Scottish Social Services Council offices.

All in all, she stole £100, including £80 from a purse and £20 from a wallet kept in a cabinet.

The watchdog told Fairley: “You misappropriated a supported person’s money without her knowledge or consent.

“This was a direct abuse of your position of trust and your actions resulted in financial harm to the service user concerned.

“It would cause the public to lose confidence in the social services profession if you were given the opportunity to repeat such behaviour.

“The misconduct represents values which are fundamentally incompatible with registration as a social services worker.”

Fairley was said not to have co-operated with the investigation nor shown any remorse or apologised for her actions.

The SSSC added: “Taking money from a vulnerable service user without their consent or knowledge is dishonest behaviour that falls at the more serious end of the scale of seriousness.

“Dishonest behaviour on this level undermines trust in social services and requires serious action by the SSSC as the regulator.

“Your behaviour has been repeated on at least three occasions and as you have not provided any comments to the SSSC and have not shown any remorse, regret or insight or apology for your behaviour, we have therefore concluded there is a real risk of repetition.

“Your behaviour being at the more serious end of the scale, coupled with the risk of repetition being assessed as high, invokes public protection concerns.

“There is a public interest in maintaining trust and confidence in the register and upholding proper standards of behaviour in the profession.

“Your behaviour damages the reputation of the profession, and it is in the interests of the public to take serious action and remove you from the register.”