Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Fife Council carer who gave youngster £10 pocket money handed warning by regulator

Pocket Money
Even as they take action on other soaring bills, government's have failed to tackle rising housing costs. Image: Shutterstock

A Fife residential care worker has been handed a warning for giving youngster she was working with £10 in pocket money.

Sharee Mullan, who works for Fife Council, has had a warning placed on her record for 18 months.

A report by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) says Mullan was caring for the youngster while working at Maidstone Residential Care Home in Leven.

The facility cares for youngsters aged between nine and 18, and was rated positively in its most recent inspection.

Fife carer was ‘dishonest’ about actions

The report says on or around February 21 last year, she allowed the young man, identified only as “AA”, to be unsupervised in Dunfermline when she “knew that he was not permitted to be in the area”.

It was also found she gave AA £10 in what it described as pocket money, knowing that AA was not allowed to spend unsupervised.

The SSSC HQ in Dundee.

Mullan is also said to have told a colleague that AA had used the money to get food from a chip shop and kept the change, which she knew to be untrue.

The SSSC says this was dishonest and fell below the standards expected of Mullan.

The report said: “After taking AA to a location where he was not permitted to be and giving him money which he was not permitted to have on his person, you were then dishonest about what you had done with the service user and what he had spent his money on.”

Carer ‘did not intend to put youngster at harm’

The regulator says it accepts that Mullan did not intend to place AA at risk of harm.

But it said: “You breached the trust placed in you as a professional in the sector and a registered worker by failing to adhere to the service user’s care plan and arrangements that had been put in place to ensure the service user’s safety and wellbeing.”

Fife Council [has] indicated that you are a highly regarded member of staff

SSSC ruling

In determining the sanction, the SSSC says that while Mullan was dishonest about her action, she showed “considerable insight and regret” and offered an apology to her colleagues.

It added: “You have proven continued good practice in your employment with
Fife Council and they have indicated that you are a highly regarded member of staff.”

Fife Council declined to comment, while The Courier has been unable to contact Mullan for comment.

Conversation