A Paisley nursery worker failed to report blood on a child and told their mum she was a “bad parent”.

Megan McGurk did not tell her manager that a concerned mum “found blood stains and marks” on her child, known as BB.

It comes after she also “grabbed” a boy, known as AA, “pushing him to his seat” and shouted in his face.

The actions happened while she was employed as a childcare practitioner with the Committee of Linwood Community Care in March 2020.

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McGurk then contacted the mother of BB on social media, after leaving the role, and claimed other nursery staff members had said “she was a bad parent.”

She also told the mother that colleagues had said “she was using the nursery to just abandon her kids” and to “dump” them on “other people to look after them.”

In another message, she told the mum that staff has said “that her children are the way they are due to the start of their lives”.

The behaviour took place recently after McGurk had been promoted as an experienced member of staff.

Now The Scottish Social Service Council (SSSC) have given McGurk a warning to stay on her registration for a period of 24 months and conditions imposed.

The SSSC report said: “Your misconduct was serious.

“Social services workers, in whom service users and the public place their trust and confidence are expected to treat service users with dignity and respect and protect them from harm.

“You shouted at a child, pointed in their face, and grabbed them by the arm to place them in a chair.

“Your behaviour caused both physical and emotional harm to the child.

“It was a loss of self-control.

“You have also failed to follow child protection procedures designed to prevent children in your care from being at risk of harm.

“While no actual harm came to either child, the potential for harm was clear.

“You also breached professional boundaries with a [redacted] of a child, which resulted in [redacted].

“All three incidents are indicative of a pattern of you displaying poor personal and professional judgement.

“All incidents occurred in 2020 and you have not been working in the sector since.”

 

McGurk's warning will last two years and she must also comply with conditions imposed by the SSSC.

This includes providing the care watchdog with evidence that she has completed learning within four months of these conditions coming into effect.

The learning must cover how to use positive intervention to manage stressed and distressed behaviours calmly and effectively.

It also must focus on protecting people, covering the role and responsibility of social services workers along with understanding and managing professional boundaries.