Coventry optometrist suspended over failure to refer

A General Optical Council fitness to practise committee has suspended Coventry-based optometrist Mathew Clarke for 12 months.

The committee ruled that his practise was impaired by virtue of misconduct after he failed to refer a patient despite finding visual field defects. The patient, who is registered blind, believed his sight could have been saved had these warning signs been spotted sooner.

In reaching its decision, the committee said it had determined that the registrant remained a risk to the public and as such his fitness to practise was impaired. It also determined that in the circumstances of this particular case, the need to uphold proper professional standards and public confidence in the profession would be undermined if a finding of impairment to practise was not made.