AN ADULT care home manager from Colwyn Bay has been removed from the Register of Social Care Workers after a Social Care Wales hearing found her fitness to practise is currently impaired because of serious misconduct.

The hearing, which was held over Zoom in April, was told that Gaynor Brownson failed on a number of occasions to protect residents at the care home she managed from abuse, neglect and improper treatment.

Ms Brownson also failed to promote and maintain the residents’ safety and well-being, particularly with regards to the residents’ various medication needs, and failed to run the home with sufficient care, competence and skill.

Additionally, Ms Brownson failed to make sure that highly sensitive and confidential information about the residents was stored safely and securely, with one unsecured box of sensitive information stored in a communal toilet available to staff, residents and visitors.

Appearing before the panel, Ms Brownson admitted all the charges, and after considering the evidence, the panel decided that Ms Brownson’s fitness to practise was currently impaired because of serious misconduct.

Explaining its decision, the panel told Ms Brownson: “We are not dealing with a single allegation that arises from a single event. Rather, the matters we have found proved took place over a period of time and relate to fundamental tenets of social care practice.”

The panel decided to remove Ms Brownson from the Register, saying: “We have found that there remains a risk of harm to individuals using services, and a tangible risk of repetition of the matters you have admitted, and we have found proved, if you were to continue in practice as an adult care home manager.”

The panel continued: “There is evidence of actual harm to vulnerable residents at the home. You owed them a professional duty to safeguard their health, safety and well-being. Your misconduct in this respect abused the trust of those vulnerable residents.

“There has been a serious departure from the relevant standards set out in the Code [of Professional Practice for Social Care], evidenced by wide-ranging and multi-faceted nature of your failures, and your lack of insight (with no evidence that there is likely to be satisfactory remediation).”