A residential child care worker from Neath has been removed from the Register of Social Care Workers after a Social Care Wales review hearing found his fitness to practise is currently impaired because of serious misconduct.
Martin Wellington had conditions placed on his registration for 12 months in April 2021 after a panel found his fitness to practise was impaired because of serious misconduct.
Last week, a one-day hearing was held over Zoom to review Mr Wellington’s progress and to decide whether his fitness to practise was still currently impaired.
The panel was told that Mr Wellington hadn’t provided evidence that he’d complied with any of the conditions placed upon his registration during the hearing in April, such as having more training and working under supervision. The panel was also told that Mr Wellington no longer works in the social care sector.
After considering the evidence, the panel concluded that Mr Wellington’s fitness to practise was still currently impaired because of his serious misconduct.
Explaining its decision, the panel said: “Mr Wellington’s misconduct was serious and the risks arising from it have not diminished.
“We are not reassured that Mr Wellington has taken any further steps to remedy his misconduct since the date of the last hearing. We do not have any evidence that he has honoured the promises and commitments he made to the previous panel, which leads us to question his integrity.
“We cannot be confident that his misconduct is highly unlikely to be repeated. We therefore consider Mr Wellington remains a risk to the public and individuals using care and support services.”
The panel decided to remove Mr Wellington from the Register, saying: “We consider this is the only appropriate option given Mr Wellington’s lack of engagement and his failure to demonstrate that he has taken the necessary steps to remediate his behaviour.
“We do not find that any other disposal will satisfactorily address the risks in this case or will fail to address them adequately until a later stage.”
Mr Wellington was not present at the one-day review hearing, which was held over Zoom last week.