By Gavin Mackntosh-
A social worker has been sanctioned for lying on oath after becoming a confidant in an “unacceptably blurred” relationship with service users.
The unnamed social worker was suspended by the HCPC for nine months, after a panel found she had “undermined” trust and confidence in social workers by lying when giving evidence in care proceedings involving two parents to whom she offered informal advice to.
The social worker was met the parents while working with another family, as opposed to the usual process of being assigned to their case
In 2013, the social worker offered the pair advice in relation to concerns about having another child ,including how the council would be expected to respond to this. A year later she provided sessions for them on anger management and coping skills, and was later called in to care proceedings to give evidence about this work.
During proceedings, it emerged that the social worker had helped prepared psychological assessments for the meeting – an action considered inappropriate.
The social worker proceeded to lie several times during the court proceeding, denying ever to have seen the documents. The fact she had seen the assessment was confirmed by the parents to the HCPC.
She later admitted seeing one of two psychological assessments, still contradicting claims by the parents that she had seen both. The panel concluded the acts had been dishonest and constituted misconduct.
The panel said : ”Courts, service users and professionals must have absolute confidence that a social worker is being open, frank and honest whenever they engage with the legal system.
“That is particularly so in a system responsible for safeguarding children and where vital and weighty decisions in respect of the care of children are taken,” it concluded. The social worker will now be out of work for 9 months, and may well never return if she must find an alternative means to fend for herself.
The punishment seems harsh for the alleged offence, however, breaking the rules is not acceptable ion any profession, especially social services.
ISOLATED MISCONDUCT
The panel stated that the misconduct was a one off isolated incidence in a 15 year career for the social worker. The panels statement continued:
“She accepts that her relationship with [the parents] became unacceptably blurred. She now knows that she needs to keep at the forefront of every interaction where she is a social worker to keep professional boundaries and to adhere to the principles of her profession.
“She understands in this type of situation she is still acting in a social work capacity. She would have to be clear with parents as to her role and that she would be consulting with her supervisor. She would definitely not involve herself in informal support groups.“That was a different role and was a clear mistake.”
This mistake has proved too costly for the social worker in question.