A domiciliary care worker has been removed from the Register of Social Care Workers after a Social Care Wales hearing found his fitness to practise is currently impaired because of serious misconduct.
Matthew Hughes was working as a complex behaviour and autism support worker when he repeatedly accessed confidential material he was not authorised to see between January and March 2020.
The hearing was told Mr Hughes deleted management files on a work computer that contained records of conversations he’d had with his practice leader, when he wasn’t authorised to do so.
Mr Hughes also breached his employer’s IT and confidentiality rules by sending emails with sensitive information about someone receiving care and support to his personal email account.
In addition, Mr Hughes breached his employer’s data protection rules by storing sensitive information on his phone.
After considering the evidence, the panel concluded that Mr Hughes’s behaviour was dishonest and lacked integrity, and that his fitness to practise was currently impaired because of his serious misconduct.
Explaining its decision, the panel said: “Mr Hughes’s deliberate and dishonest deletion of management files and his lack of regard for the confidentiality of information are significant in isolation and would individually amount to breaches of fundamental social care principles. However, in this case, they also form part of a wider pattern of misconduct.”
The panel decided the remove Mr Hughes from the Register, saying: “Mr Hughes has shown no insight and no commitment to making improvements in a reasonable amount of time.
“There is a risk that he would continue to behave in the same way given that he admits no wrongdoing. His overall behaviour and attitude is currently incompatible with registration.”
Mr Hughes was not present at the three-day hearing, which took place over Zoom last week.