Wolverhampton social worker suspended for misconduct

Leila Annikici Karhu had worked as a social worker for the city council for 25 years prior to the incident in October 2016, which ultimately led to her suspension by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) this week.

At the time, Ms Karhu was mainly employed by the council’s Older People Services but also did sessional work for the council’s Emergency Duty Team (EDT) every Saturday night – an additional post she had held for 11 years.

She had recently qualified as an Approved Mental Health Practitioner (AMHP) and was working a 12-hour shift on the EDT On October 1, 2016, between 9pm and 9am the following day when the incident took place.

At the Health and Care Professions Tribunal hearing, which took place in London in Ms Karhu’s absence, it was alleged that she did not take the appropriate action upon receiving the referral and did not provide any handover to the social worker who took over the shift the following morning.

In correspondence to the panel, Ms Karhu stated that her previous manager “recognised that I was a good and competent social worker who stumbled once due to personal illness and stupidity”.

The HCPC hearing imposed a 12-month suspension order, effective from August 25. The order will be reviewed again before it expires.

A spokesman for Wolverhampton Council said: “The social worker had been employed by the City of Wolverhampton Council for a number of years. She was suspended for 12 months by the Health and Care Professions Council following an investigation into an incident of poor practice in October 2016.

“The social worker was subject to a disciplinary process and left the employment of the council in 2017.

“At the time of the 2016 Health and Care Professions Council hearing the panel recorded that it considered a striking off order to be disproportionate given that the misconduct in question was related to a single, isolated while she was with the council in an otherwise long and exemplary career as a social worker.”