AN INVERKEITHING child care worker who turned up for work smelling of alcohol and posted confidential information on Facebook has been given a warning for her misconduct.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) conduct sub-committee found Bernadette Strickland's behaviour “fell so far short of the standards” expected that “it might have an adverse impact in public confidence in social services”.

Strickland was then employed as a senior residential care worker at the Forth Craig care home for children and young people in Hope Street.

On September 5, 2012, she attended her workplace while smelling of alcohol, although she was not under the influence at the time.

The sub-committee found that this was an “isolated incident” but their report added: “You initially expressed regret and shame for your actions to your manager but you later denied that you had consumed alcohol prior to attending your place of work. Your evidence in relation to whether you had or had not consumed alcohol was inconsistent.”

Strickland had resigned after that. The report said that prior to the incident, her employers had regarded her as a “very competent, reliable and committed worker”.

On March 15, 2013, Strickland posted “inappropriate content” on Facebook, discussing service users and referring to them by name.

Of the 2012 incident, the sub-committee decided: “You ought to have reasonably known that young persons residing at the home may have had issues with alcohol dependency or that they may have suffered trauma as a consequence of exposure to persons with alcohol dependency prior to being referred to Forth Craig.

“By attending your place of employment smelling of alcohol you may have exposed service users to risk of emotional or psychological harm and you may have given them the impression that to attend work whilst smelling of alcohol is acceptable behaviour for a residential child care worker with supervisory responsibilities, which it is not.”

Of the confidentiality breach, the sub-committee said that “a social networking site ... is a wholly inappropriate means of communicating about service users”.

It added: “The content that you posted was very personal and the sub-committee was satisfied that it may have been possible to identify the service users from the information that you placed online, failing which you should not have taken the risk that they may have been identified even if only to a very small audience.

“It was also satisfied that your actions breached the trust of service users who are entitled to expect that information that is known to you about them will be treated in confidence.”

The sub-committee concluded: “Your misconduct, which took place both inside and outside of your place of employment, fell so far short of the standards that might reasonably be expected of a social service worker that it might have an adverse impact in public confidence in social services.

“It is therefore considered to be sufficiently serious to call into question your suitability to work in social services.”

However, Strickland was commended for her previous good record and co-operation with the SSSC during investigations. It was also noted that her misconduct was “not intended to harm service users” and there was “no evidence” that any were harmed as a consequence.

The sub-committee imposed a two-year warning on Strickland's registration after being satisfied that “the risk of the misconduct being repeated is so low”.