Lying Edinburgh carer struck off for driving offences and posting video of resident

Toni Higgins posted a video of a resident on social media.

Higgins was struck off by the Scottish Social Services Council

A 'dishonest' former Edinburgh care worker has been struck off after invading a resident's privacy, committing driving offences and lying on job applications.

Toni Higgins came before a Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) panel after a string of misconduct incidents which included posting a video of a resident on social media.

Last March, she was convicted of driving without due care and attention and failing to provide a breath test after she drove a car into a house in July 2020. At the time of the smash, she had already been sacked from two care jobs - one at Carr Gomm, Edinburgh in October 2018 and another at Fidra House, North Berwick in April 2019.

In the latter case, she had posted a video of a resident sitting on a staff member's knee and another of herself lying on a resident's bed with an 'easy dayz' caption to Snapchat.

A day after being axed from her job, she falsely claimed she had left Carr Gomm due to 'bad management and wage' and Fidra House because she 'preferred care at home'. In July of 2019, she repeated those lies while seeking a job at Allied Healthcare.

By March 2020, Higgins was employed as a care assistant by Allied Healthcare in Tranent, but she had not left her web of lies in the past. In a meeting with her employer, she claimed to have resigned from the two previous jobs and that she was unaware of the Snapchat allegations.

Despite knowing that criminal charges had been filed against her for the driving offences, she maintained there were no police proceedings against her in an interview with Mears Care.

A report by the watchdog branded Higgins' behaviour 'serious' and said she showed a 'significant pattern' of dishonesty. It reads: "The behaviour leading to your convictions shows a disregard for the law and in terms of the first conviction, a disregard for the safety of others."

Of the social media videos, it adds: "Your actions amount to a failure to respect AA’s dignity and privacy and a general failure to respect service users and the fact that you were working within their home."

"Your dishonesty prevented prospective employers from being able to fully assess your suitability for the role and prevented any safeguards from being imposed", the document continues.

Higgins was said to have shown 'very little insight, regret or apology', meaning nothing less than an industry ban would suffice.