A CARE worker who forced a frail pensioner to have a haircut by holding down her arms and ignoring her cries to stop has been suspended for two years.
Morag Pacey, from Bathgate, West Lothian, was banned from working in the care industry after a hearing of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) revealed a catalogue of misconduct.
The former care worker treated elderly residents at Whitdale House, Bathgate, in a threatening and intimidating manner.
A record of malpractice shows Ms Pacey breached the care code on 11 occasions in just six weeks throughout the summer of 2011.
On one occasion she forced a service user to have her hair cut by holding her hands down and then failed to appropriately respond when the service user indicated that she was distressed.
It was also alleged she ordered a junior staff member to remove a urinary catheter from a resident despite having no training to do so.
Ms Pacey, who retired in December 2012, denied the charges despite failing to challenge them at the tribunal.
After hearing the evidence of her serious misconduct, the care watchdog concluded that "a warning would not adequately protect members of the public and the wider public interest". Ms Pacey was suspended for two years.
A report said: "The sub-committee was satisfied that a suspension order for a period of two years was a proportionate response to the misconduct found, having regard to the public interest in maintaining confidence in social services."
Ms Pacey also faced charges of administering the wrong prescription dosage to a resident against the recommendations of a GP, sharing her nicotine inhaler with a resident and behaving in an "inappropriate manner towards her colleagues".
Ms Pacey yesterday claimed it was "all a set-up" and said that she had no intention of working in the care industry again.
She said: "People know I would never harm anyone and that I always had my patients' interests at heart. I look after so many local people. All my neighbours know me, they have all called on me in the middle of the night when they could not get a doctor. This whole thing has made me so ill."
Ms Pacey worked at the home between 2004 and 2012.
A spokesman for West Lothian Council, which runs the care home, said: "We take the safety and security of people in our care extremely seriously.
"It is not appropriate to discuss matters relating to individual former employees."
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