DO suspension is extended

A dispensing optician awaiting trial for alleged fraud had his interim suspension continued by the General Optical Council this week.

The Council's Fitness to Practise committee continued the suspension of Iqbal Nabi, who last month pleaded not guilty to fraud at Lewes Crown Court and faces a two-week trial in October. The trial follows a joint police and NHS Counter Fraud Service investigation into allegedly fraudulent NHS-funded sight tests between January and October 2009.

It was the GOC's fourth review of the order, with Nabi originally suspended for 18 months in December 2009 for misleading patients into thinking they had received a full eye examination by an appropriately qualified professional (News 08.01.10).