A CARER has been struck off after assaulting a colleague at the home of an elderly resident.

Zoe Conway went before the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) following an altercation with a fellow carer on June 10 last year.

The SSSC panel heard Conway, who worked as a support worker for Home Care in Prestwick, punched her colleague in the face causing her nose to bleed when she had “got lippy” with her, after a row erupted over swapping shifts.

The panel heard that Conway had agreed to cover a nightshift for the woman but had later decided she didn’t want to. However her colleague had refused to “take the nightshift back”

and Conway decided to confront her.

The panel heard: “You attended a service user’s house; you had agreed to cover a nightshift that night for (colleague). You were not up to doing the nightshift because your mother was not keeping good health.”

Conway then got another colleague to drive her to the house where the victim was working where she confronted her in the garden before hitting her in the face.

The panel heard that Conway was later convicted of assault at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court for the attack and ordered to pay £200 compensation to her victim.

Thee SSSC hearing was told Conway was remorseful over the incident: “You admitted that you had struck (the victim) on the nose and it had been bleeding. You were extremely emotional, you were very remorseful, you apologised, you stated that it was a “spur of the moment’’ reaction on your part and you wanted to continue working within the company but you were aware that your behaviour would have an impact on your employment.”

However the panel found that Conway’s actions were so abhorrent that she was removed from the register.

The report said: “There is no evidence before the panel that you have taken steps to address your behaviour, no evidence of remediation.

“The impairment was too serious to be addressed by suspension. A Removal Order would satisfy public protection concerns and public interest concerns.”