A woman from Derbyshire has been suspended from working as social worker for two years by a committee of the General Social Care Council (GSCC) after being found to have breached the profession’s code of practice.
Hilary Sampson was working for Derbyshire County Council when she began a relationship with a person to whom she was the allocated social worker. During a two-day hearing in London this week, the committee concluded that Sampson had taken advantage of a professional relationship to start a personal one with someone under her care and in doing so had abused her position of authority.
The committee heard that Sampson did not inform her manager of the relationship and continued to act as the person’s social worker, writing a pre-sentencing report for Derby Crown Court which created an obvious conflict of interest. Whilst employed by the Council, she also visited the person in prison in a non-professional capacity without telling her employer she was in a relationship with him.
In coming to their decision to suspend Sampson from the Social Care Register, the committee noted the relationship was consensual and there was no coercion and accepted evidence that she was a good, even excellent, practitioner. They concluded the issue was less one of protecting the safety of the public than protecting the reputation of the profession. They felt suspension reflected the gravity of misconduct whilst taking into account mitigating factors.
They noted that she had shown some insight into the dangers inherent in crossing professional boundaries but had continued to maintain it was possible to separate her personal and professional life. The committee felt this demonstrated insufficient insight into the implications of her failure to observe appropriate professional boundaries.
Sir Rodney Brooke, Chair of the GSCC, said: “We must uphold public trust and confidence in social care services. Where social workers act irresponsibly, it is important that we hold them to account and take proportionate action. Social workers should not jeopardise public perception of the profession. That’s why we have a code of practice which clearly sets out what is expected from social workers as they go about their daily business.”