A CRUEL care home worker who slapped the hands of an OAP repeatedly to force her to let go of a walking frame has been struck off.

Colleagues of Jan Paterson raised the alarm about abusive behaviour involving three residents at Abbey Court Care Home in East Kilbride.

An investigation was told her actions had placed one elderly resident, “in a state of fear and distress.”

A colleague described how she, “ shouted at (the resident) when she did not let go of the Stand Aid and when she continued to hold on to the Stand Aid, you slapped her hands until she let go.”

Her aggressive manner caused another elderly person to remark: “I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of her.”

The support worker also shouted at another resident: “I won’t put up with your crap,” or words to that effect and told a colleague she had washed an elderly resident when she had not.

The incidents all happened on the morning of March 23 last year. An inquiry by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) heard from three witnesses who working on the same day.

Ms Paterson, who has been registered as support worker, since 2015, also pushed another pensioner’s hand down and said: “Don’t touch me,’ or words to that effect.

The inquiry was told that all three residents who were abused had a [health condition] which meant that their recollections

and information about any events were unreliable. The care home looks after elderly people suffering from dementia.

A panel of the SSSC was told that a suspension was not a severe enough sanction to “adequately protect” the public.

The said: “The impairment of your fitness to practise is serious, involving significant

departures from the Code.

In the Panel’s view, there was no other way to protect members of the public and to serve the public interest in upholding proper standards and maintaining confidence in the social services profession.”