AN ALEXANDRIA care home worker provided personal care to two residents while they were sitting on the toilet – and failed to tell a medical professional when one resident’s toenail fell off.

According to Scotland’s social services watchdog, care assistant Jacqueline Anne Kemp told a colleague that one resident “just takes the p**s”, and said in the presence of another resident that their feet were “absolutely disgusting”.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) also found Kemp had “not demonstrated any insight or remorse or taken any steps to remediate” her behaviour – which, it said, “gives rise to public protection concerns”.

An SSSC panel found that Kemp had failed to meet the standard of care expected by a care home worker in the course of her employment at the service on or around January 18, 2019.

The panel criticised her behaviour towards five separate residents at the service and towards a student colleague.

The care service is based in Alexandria, but its name is redacted in the SSSC’s report of a hearing into the allegations of misconduct.

The report found there was evidence that Ms Kemp had failed to tell a nurse that a resident’s toenail had fallen off.

In their report, the panel told Ms Kemp: “You made neglectful and dismissive comments about the appearances and personal characteristics of residents in your care and placed residents at risk of harm.

“You provided personal care to residents when they were sitting on the toilet and instructed a colleague to do the same.

“This was a failure to treat people under your care as individuals and failed to respect and maintain vulnerable people’s dignity. Further, this was a failure to follow relevant standards of practise designed to keep yourself and others safe at work.

“You stated to a student care worker “you’re slowing me down, you’re just a student” or words to that effect, in an abrupt or derogatory fashion, and thereby failed to treat your colleague, who was a student and learning how to be a carer, with respect.

“The misconduct is serious in nature – particularly the behaviour involving vulnerable people who use services.

"Although you have expressed that the morning was hectic, this does not justify your attitude towards the residents or your mannerisms towards the student member of staff.

“Your actions bring the reputation of the profession into disrepute.

"A reasonably informed member of the public, in light of all of the information available to the SSSC taken as a whole, would consider your fitness to practise to currently be impaired.

“There would be public protection concerns if you were permitted to continue working without any remediation of the behaviour.

"Without remediation, there is a risk you may place people who use services at risk of similar harm.

“You have failed to meaningfully engage with the SSSC.

"Although you did admit to some of your misconduct during an internal meeting with your employer, an admission is only one part of remediation.

“You have not demonstrated any insight or remorse or taken any steps to remediate your behaviour and as such, the SSSC cannot rule out a risk of the behaviour being repeated.”

The SSSC placed a warning on Ms Kemp’s registration, which will remain in place for eight months.