'Deliberate & dishonest' | Care worker sent fake reference from bogus email address to prospective employer

A care worker in Northern Ireland has been let off with a warning after sending a fake reference to a prospective employer.

Faith Chipepera was found to have supplied Lucas Love Healthcare with a false email address, which she had created, purporting to belong to the Nurse Manager of her then-employer, Co. Antrim-based Hutchinson Care Homes, knowing that the former company would use the contact details to request a reference.

Ms Chipepera then created and returned a professional reference to Lucas Love Healthcare, claiming to have been completed and signed by the Nurse Manager of Hutchinson Care Homes, in October 2023. 

An investigation conducted by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council found that Ms Chipepera’s behaviour constituted “impaired fitness to practise”. The report said her actions were “deliberate and premeditated” and “dishonest.”