A CARE worker has been struck off after she manhandled dementia patients.

Janice Houston bent a man’s thumb back and pulled a woman out of her chair while working at Adams House, in Elderslie.

She then tried to cover up her shocking behaviour by asking colleagues not to tell anyone about it, as well as encouraging them to act in the same way.

Alongside being physically abusive, Houston was also verbally aggressive around residents, telling one of them to “f*** off.”

She was sacked by her employers and later summoned to an external disciplinary hearing in Dundee to face allegations of misconduct.

That has now resulted in Houston being banned from working in care.

In a report, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) said she had put patients at “unnecessary risk of harm.”

It stated: “You restrained a resident using an unauthorised technique and informed colleagues the resident should be restrained using an unauthorised technique going forward.

“These actions represent a disregard for your employer training, a breach of the trust placed in you by your employer and the resident and a failure to appropriately de-escalate a challenging situation.

“Your behaviour represents a serious departure from the fundamental values of the profession.”

The SSSC said a removal order was “necessary and justified” to maintain the continuing trust and confidence in the social services profession.

All of the incidents took place while Houston was employed at the Church of Scotland CrossReach home between January 2017 and March last year.

A spokesman for CrossReach told The Gazette: “The care provided at Adams House is consistently recognised for its high quality.

“We are always concerned when good care is compromised, as it was on this occasion.

“As soon as the incident was reported, an investigation was launched, resulting in the dismissal of a member of staff.

“We are satisfied that standards of care remain high.”

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