By James Simons-

The social worker was found not to have completed risk assessments, failed to progress direct payments quickly, and did not complete support plans for five service users, according to the conduct and competence committee.

The practice “had the potential to cause harm to service users and undermine public confidence in the profession”, the panel said.

The report came following a manager’s review of her human resources portfolio, which revealed ”concerning trends” in supervision and training records, leading to an HCPC panel reference.

In one case, a summary for a service user due within five days, was not forwarded to her manager until it was 786 days late, 2 years later.

The manager had been sent a request to authorise closing the service user’s case, and was “shocked”. Adding insult upon injury, the social worker’s supervising manager was also said to have spent “considerable time” going through a partially completed risk assessment by the registrant, which meant they could not look at her other cases, the panel found.

The risk assessment was said to be deficient in several respects, and the registrant failed to complete the assessment before the next supervision, but the HCPC said it did not materialise.

The social worker also reportedly did not engage with the panel, who concluded that she had “breached the fundamental tenets of her profession”, and took the drastic step to strike her off. The decision of this case highlights some of the incompetencies that occur in .Social services- a job that requires the most diligent action, but again and again, many social workers have fallen short of expected standards, costing them their job.