Over the past year, just under a fifth of all registrants worked in day care of children services. But they only make up a tenth of the cases referred to our Fitness to Practise Department, meaning day care of children registrants are the least likely to be referred.
It is worth noting here that registrants in this group have the highest rate of qualifications in the sector, social workers excepted. Almost three quarters of day care of children registrants have the necessary qualifications for registration, compared to just over a half of the Register as a whole.
Types of referrals
The most common types of impairment for day care of children registrants were practice failings and inappropriate behaviour at work, with each accounting for almost a quarter of cases. Behaviour outside of work made up another 12% of referrals.
The most frequent single type of impairment was a failure to follow procedures, which was present in 8% of referrals. Neglect of a child, inappropriate behaviour towards a colleague and moving and handling were also among the most common.
Recent cases in which sanctions were imposed have largely been about the mistreatment of children. While the seriousness of the behaviour will always be very important, other relevant factors in our decision making will include any insight or regret shown by the worker, their history in the sector and any practice since.
Example cases
One recent case involved a nursery worker roughly handling and shouting at one child and being convicted of assaulting another. The worker’s fitness to practise was found to be impaired and she was removed from the Register.
Another worker pushed a child to the ground and used hurtful language towards the child when she was anxious. The worker had a lengthy history in the sector and cooperated with the investigation. A four-year warning was imposed on the worker’s registration and he was required to undertake training on working and communicating with children and to provide a reflective account.
In another case, a worker acted aggressively towards a child, including by pointing in their face. The incident was a one-off where the worker had no previous fitness to practise concerns. She was given a 12-month warning and a condition on her registration to undertake relevant training on communicating and working with children.
Protecting the public
In each of these cases, the outcome reflects the need to protect children. Even where our objectives of public protection and upholding the public interest did not require workers’ removal from the Register, the workers were required to undergo training to prevent the behaviour happening again.