A HAMPSHIRE social worker has had her suspension – for failings while working for the county council – extended following a review by a care standard board.

Arlene Nicholson had put people in her care at risk through a number of failings, a tribunal heard last March, and was suspended for 12 months as a result.

Now the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) has extended that for a further 12 months following a review.

The HCPTS panel heard that Nicholson was suspended on the grounds of misconduct while employed by Hampshire County Council. She had been working for the county council’s Adults Services, Adults with Physical Disabilities and Older People Team since 2003, before the team manager reported her to the panel in August 2015.

Nicholson’s failings, dating back to 2011, included not adequately completing care needs assessments and mental capacity assessments for a number of people, as well as not communicating effectively with service users.

She also failed to respond “promptly” to a safeguarding alert, closed one person’s case without getting feedback from a Mental Health Review, recorded inadequate notes and didn’t update a service user’s daughter following a visit in May 2015.

In one instance, Nicholson failed to tell a domiciliary care agency that she had arranged for the person to be moved into a residential care facility.

Following the review, held earlier this month, the panel ruled that the suspension would now last until April 25, 2019, with a further review taking place before then.

Nicholson did not attend the hearing.

Panel chairman Donald Brown said: “The panel is satisfied that fair-minded and fully informed members of the public would be concerned with the prospect of a social worker being permitted to practice unrestricted without satisfactory demonstration of remedial action.”

Hampshire County Council was invited to comment but had not responded by the time the Advertiser's sister paper, the Daily Echo, had gone to press with this article.