A SENIOR care assistant who faced a string of allegations over her treatment of residents and colleagues has been found guilty of misconduct.

Marie McCulloch was slammed for an “abuse of trust” and a “lack of insight and regret” while working at Inchinnan Care Centre.

At a hearing of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), she was also criticised for a “failure to cooperate” with the regulatory body’s investigation.

Ms McCulloch faced a number of allegations about her behaviour at the home, run by LittleInch Care Group, over a three-month period.

These included telling elderly residents to wait until her shift was over before letting them use the toilet and moving one resident’s buzzer out of reach to prevent her from using it and excluded a resident from taking part in activities.

These and other allegations amounted to an abuse and neglect of residents, it was claimed, as well as a failure to provide an adequate level of care and placing residents at risk of harm.

Charges from March 29 in 2014 included shouting at a resident “in an aggressive tone of voice” to sit down, and pulling pyjama bottoms and pad off another elderly resident.

The SSSC ruled there was “insufficient evidence” presented to make a judgment on these claims.

“The Sub-committee considers that there may have been other relevant evidence which could have been available at an earlier date, but which was not presented to the Sub-committee at the hearing,” it continued.

“The Sub-committee did not consider it appropriate, fair, or in the public interest to adjourn the hearing at this stage to require any further evidence to be ingathered.”

However, it found that, on March 29, 2014, Ms McCulloch had shouted at a colleague, with her face “very close” to the person’s face.

It described that outburst as “both abuse of a colleague and a lack of co-operation with and respect shown to a colleague” which amounted to misconduct.

A written judgement states: “The sub-committee decided that they wished to lay a marker that your behaviour was unacceptable and that the appropriate sanction was that you should be warned in relation to your misconduct and that a record of the warning be placed on your entry in the register for a period of 12 months, details of the warning to remain in the council’s records and are to be taken into account in future council proceedings.”

A spokesman for LittleInch said they had reported Ms McCulloch – who no longer works at the care home – to the SSSC regarding concerns about her conduct in relation to residents and colleagues and this course of action has resulted in the sanction announced by the SSSC.

He added: “Our homes are regularly inspected by the Care Inspectorate and have five-star gradings for care and support. We pride ourselves in the quality of care provided.

“We are concerned, however, about the time it takes for cases to be dealt with and the way they are finally publicised by the SSSC, which can make it difficult to discern between serious and less serious cases, and this is a matter we will be raising with them.”