INVERCLYDE Council was advised to 'reflect' on its actions after a former Greenock nurse turned NHS whistleblower was called an animal's name by a senior council employee. 

Lesley Roberts raised a complaint after a member of staff called her a 'wee tiger' when she was discussing her mother's health and wellbeing at a meeting.

Ms Roberts attended a meeting back in 2021 with a senior representative from Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership in which she outlined her concerns about her mother Letitia's care. 

Lesley previously told the Telegraph that Power of Attorney regulations had prevented her from making decisions about her mother's health and welfare leading up to her death in November 2021.

Ms Roberts raised a complaint with Inverclyde Council and with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) about numerous aspects of the meeting but said the 'name-calling' bothered her the most. 

She added: "I found it ridiculously poor that a local authority which is supposed to be mindful of equality and respect chose to call me a 'wee tiger' at a meeting. 

"Would they have called a male a 'wee tiger'?

"Do they think I belong in a zoo or in the wild? 

"Is this within [the employee]'s professional remit to call the public animal names, and is this in line with how a professional who is answerable to a professional governing body such as the Scottish Social Services Council should behave?"

The Telegraph understands that in a reply to Ms Roberts after its investigation, the SPSO acknowledged that Ms Roberts thought the comment to be 'unprofessional and tone deaf' given the seriousness of what was being discussed. 

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Lesley told the SPSO that she did not believe the comment would have been made to a man. 

Information obtained from Ms Roberts reveals that the SPSO said that wasn't something that could be known 'with certainty'. 

The Telegraph understands that the SPSO acknowledged that the member of staff in question had apologised for the remark and had explained that it was not intended to cause offence, and was instead 'ill-judged'. 

It is understood that the body called for Inverclyde Council to 'further reflect' on the incident.

Ms Roberts said: "The mistakes that were made by the local authority at the end of my mothers life and the subsequent lead up to the end, were more than concerning. 

"They discriminated against me."

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman advised that it could 'neither confirm nor deny' that it had investigated the complaint. 

An Inverclyde Council/HSCP spokesperson said: "This complaint relates to meetings held in 2021 and the response from the SPSO is dated September 2023.

"We received the letter from the SPSO in September 2023 and have taken on board the feedback within it. 

"We apologised at the time the complaint was raised and this was acknowledged by the SPSO as well as the explanation from us that this remark was not intended to cause offence.

"We would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise to Ms Roberts and put on record our best wishes to Ms Roberts."