Fraud OO suspended

Mr Bateson, of Seaham, Durham, attended the hearing on April 15, which centred on his conviction on 14 charges of false accounting amounting to almost &\#163;9,000 (News, November 20 1998). The charges, which related to over claims made to the Family Health Service Authorities between 1994 and 1996, were brought after Mr Bateson was convicted at Teeside Crown Court last November. He pleaded guilty to the charges and received a nine-month suspended sentence and was ordered to pay &\#163;1,000 costs. The disciplinary committee heard that Mr Bateson was caught after an independent investigation was carried out by Durham Health Authority officials. An audit of more than 500 patients revealed false claims were made at his practice, Nelson's Opticians, during a two-year period. Representing the GOC, solicitor David Isaac said the offences included claiming for two pairs of spectacles instead of one, and claiming for complete replacements when only minor repairs had been carried out. Mr Bateson, who has since paid &\#163;30,000 in a court settlement, admitted that he had knowingly made false claims but said the health authority audit contained 'some clerical errors and misunderstandings.' He said: 'The NHS regulations were very vague and caused misunderstandings which gave rise to some grey areas. The whole episode has cost me dearly and I am bitterly ashamed of what has happened.' Mr Bateman's representative, Timothy Cox, defence secretary of the Association of Optometrists, said that his client had been 'working under pressure and was at a low ebb' when the offences took place. In finding Mr Bateson guilty of serious professional misconduct, chairman Ewan Page said the committee realised there were mitigating factors relating to the practitioner's circumstances.