23 June 2022
Below OT presents a summary of General Optical Council fitness to practise decisions published over the last six months.
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March
An optometrist who behaved inappropriately towards a patient and colleagues between 2020 and 2021 has been erased from the GOC register.
Wembley-based optometrist, Ibrar Ahmed (GOC registration 01-30095), was found by a fitness to practise committee to have inappropriately touched two colleagues. He also made sexual remarks towards colleagues.
The committee heard that Ahmed demonstrated sexually inappropriate behaviour towards a patient in September 2021.
The committee highlighted that no insight, remediation or remorse had been shown by Ahmed.
Although Ahmed was challenged about his behaviour towards a colleague in August 2020, he went on to act inappropriately towards another colleague and patient in 2021.
The committee highlighted that the misconduct involved both a breach of trust and an abuse of authority.
Erasure was determined to be the only means of protecting patients and colleagues, while also maintaining confidence in the profession.
“In such serious cases as this, protecting patients and colleagues and the wider public interest had to take precedence over the interests of the individual,” the decision stated.
Carnforth-based optometrist, Michael Moon (GOC registration 01-9510) has been suspended from the GOC register for six months.
A GOC fitness to practise committee noted that Moon had failed to conduct appropriate eye examinations, amended patient records and behaved inappropriately towards a patient. This misconduct saw Moon receive a conditional registration order for three years, with a review after 12 months.
As part of a review hearing, a fitness to practise committee determined that Moon had not yet taken steps to remediate the concerns arising in his case, and did not appear to appreciate the seriousness of his actions.
The committee noted that whilst some of this conduct could be classed as easily remediable, such as the clinical concerns, other aspects such as the dishonesty were more difficult to remediate.
Moon had reported completing continuing professional development, working under supervision and implementing changes to his practice.
However, the committee retained concerns that Moon had not appreciated the importance of diligent and full compliance with the conditions on his practice. A sanction of six months suspension was imposed.
“The committee considered that six months was the minimum required in order to protect the public and meet the public interest,” the decision stated.
An optometrist who made additions to a record after incorrectly advising a patient that he had cystoid macula oedema has been suspended from the GOC register for four months.
A fitness to practise committee decision found that Newcastle-based practitioner, Gareth Long (GOC registration 01-24213) created inaccurate records in order to conceal the fact that he had incorrectly advised a patient that he had cystoid macula oedema after failing to verify the patient’s identity.
Long added additional notes into the patient record, detailing how he had discussed a YAG capsulotomy with the patient (the procedure that the patient had presented to discuss).
In order to explain why ‘cystoid macular oedema’ was written on a note given to the patient, Long suggested in the patient record that there could have been a paperwork mix up with another patient sitting in the waiting room who had received this diagnosis.
The fitness to practise committee determined that these statements were inaccurate and the amendments had been made to conceal the fact that Long had incorrectly advised the patient that he had cystoid macular oedema.
In determining the appropriate sanction, the committee took into account that the behaviour of the registrant was dishonest.
In mitigation, Long had accepted that he should have behaved differently and shown remorse.
“His actions amounted to an isolated incident in an unblemished career, without previous or subsequent allegations,” the decision stated.
The appropriate sanction was determined to be a four-month suspension order.
February
Leicester-based optometrist, Herkiran Riyait (GOC registration 01-27741), has been suspended from the GOC register for 12 months.
The optical regulator determined that Riyait’s fitness to practise was impaired by reason of misconduct after she failed to engage with activity as directed by the GOC investigation committee.
A fitness to practise committee decision noted that a suspension was the appropriate and proportionate order to impose.
“The committee determined that the order should be for the maximum 12 months to mark the seriousness of the registrant’s conduct and to satisfy the wider public interest,” the decision stated.
January 2024
Ilford-based optometrist, Simon Rose (GOC registration 01-13102), has been suspended from the register for six months for failing to assess and accurately record clinical information.
A GOC fitness to practise committee also found that Rose retrospectively amended clinical notes.
The committee determined that Rose’s clinical failures included not using images taken during a 2018 sight test to inform his assessment.
There was also a failure to conduct basic tests and gather fundamental information, such as family history.
The committee highlighted that a further aggravating factor in the case was that the clinical shortcomings led to a delay in diagnosing glaucoma.
There was also dishonesty involved, with Rose amending clinical notes to cover up the fact that he had not maintained adequate records.
In mitigation, the committee determined that Rose had demonstrated “excellent” remediation, meaning that the risk of repetition of the conduct was low.
He had positive testimonials demonstrating that the dishonesty was out of character. Rose had no other findings of misconduct or impairment during his long professional career.
The decision stated: “The committee did not consider that in all the circumstances, the misconduct was fundamentally incompatible with being a registered professional.”
Rose was issued with a six-month suspension order.
December 2023
An optometrist has been erased from the GOC register following clinical and record keeping failures.
Banchory-based optometrist, Robert Fyfe (GOC registration 01-31612), failed to send a vision report to a hospital, misdiagnosed patients and kept inadequate records.
The fitness to practise committee also found that he had failed to conduct adequate sight tests and urgently refer a patient to the hospital.
Turning to aggravating factors in the case, the committee attributed weight to the breadth of the clinical deficiencies – relating to two patients over a period of around 18 months.
One patient had their cataract treatment delayed and in the other case, Fyfe did not detect an obvious sign that could potentially indicate a serious condition.
In mitigation, the committee considered Fyfe’s long career, of more than three decades, with no fitness to practise history.
The committee also took into account that Fyfe had made some admissions in his early correspondence with case examiners.
Taking all the circumstances into account, including a lack of insight and disengagement from the proceedings, the committee considered that Fyfe’s conduct was fundamentally incompatible with remaining on the register.
A suspended Bodedern-based dispensing optician has been erased from the GOC register after a fitness to practise committee found he showed a “persistent lack of insight.”
The committee determined that Gary Marshall (GOC registration D-6494) had not acknowledged the seriousness of his actions or their consequences.
Marshall was initially suspended in November 2022 after he inappropriately modified the spectacle prescriptions of patients and failed to obtain the necessary authorisation of an optometrist when altering a prescription.
In reviewing Marshall’s suspension, the fitness to practise committee highlighted that Marshall had not engaged with the GOC since 2021.
He had not demonstrated any evidence of insight into his conduct or remediation.
“The committee noted that this was a case involving dishonesty and considered that through an ongoing lack of engagement the registrant had demonstrated a persistent lack of insight,” the committee highlighted.
The committee determined that erasure from the register was the appropriate and proportionate sanction.
November
An optometrist who amended a patient’s record retrospectively has been suspended for three months.
A fitness to practise committee decision described how Littlehampton-based practitioner, Rishi Patel (GOC registration 01-20021), accessed the record of a patient in January 2021 after the initial appointment in May 2019.
He added several reported patient symptoms and clinical observations, including that the patient’s optical coherence tomography scan was normal.
Patel did not add the date or his initials to the parts of the patient record that were amended.
The committee determined that retrospectively amending the patient record was dishonest and misleading.
In mitigation, the decision noted that there was no harm caused to the patient, the conduct was an isolated incident of dishonesty and Patel has demonstrated insight, remorse, reflection and targeted remediation.
The committee also noted that Patel had implemented coping strategies to address stress in the workplace.
In terms of aggravating factors, the committee highlighted that Patel had included information in the amendments that he could not recollect and had not been candid with his business partner about the amendments.
The GOC determined that an appropriate sanction was a three-month suspension order.
A Harpenden-based optometrist has been erased from the GOC register after he continued to practise while subject to an interim suspension order.
Donald Lydon (GOC registration 01-23661) was also found by a fitness to practise committee to have submitted General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) claims for matters other than sight tests, and altered dates on GOS forms for sight tests performed during his interim suspension order.
Turning to aggravating factors in the case, the committee highlighted a lack of insight by Lydon into his conduct.
“The committee has not received evidence of any remorse, apology or clear acceptance of wrongdoing from the registrant. There is no evidence to suggest the registrant has taken steps to remediate his conduct,” the committee noted.
Lydon had a previous finding of misconduct from 2017, when he faced allegations of clinical failures, poor record keeping and failing to cooperate with a GOC investigation.
The committee also found that Lydon’s conduct comprised dishonesty at the “high end of the scale.”
“The persistent and prolonged nature of the dishonesty in claiming for GOS sight tests for multiple patients resulted in significant financial gain for the registrant,” the decision stated.
In mitigation, Lydon had agreed to pay back funds owed to the NHS on a monthly basis.
The committee determined that Lydon’s behaviour was “fundamentally incompatible” with being a registered professional.
“The committee concluded that erasure of the registrant’s name from the register is the only appropriate and proportionate sanction,” the committee stated.
A Bradford-based dispensing optician has been suspended for six months after he dishonestly obtained free contact lenses.
Joshua Smith (GOC registration D-17395) created a contact lens order without a prescription for an individual who was not a patient at the practice where he worked. He did not collect payment for the contact lenses.
A GOC fitness to practise committee determined that Smith’s actions were dishonest as he intended to obtain free contact lenses.
In terms of aggravating factors, the committee highlighted that Smith’s misconduct was carried out for financial gain at a loss to the NHS, that there was an abuse of the employer’s trust and that Smith did not immediately admit to his conduct.
In mitigation, Smith had no previous fitness to practise history, he had cooperated with the GOC, and had received positive references.
Smith was shown to have a good level of insight, reflection, remorse and had apologised.
The committee determined that a six-month suspension order was an appropriate and proportion sanction.
The GOC learning bulletin, FtP Focus, also provides details on the types of concerns the optical regulator receives and how it assesses them during an investigation. If you have suggestions for future topics to cover, contact the GOC by email.
OT only includes cases that the GOC has deemed to be of public interest within this synopsis. In line with policy, case summaries will be removed from the OT website after six months.