GOC suspends Bolton-based dispensing optician

Bolton-based dispensing optician Suleman Patel was suspended from the General Optical Council (GOC) register for nine months.

A GOC fitness to practise committee found Patel’s fitness to practise impaired by reason of misconduct in relation to acting dishonestly.

Between 2010-2016, Patel, who managed a Specsavers store during the time of the case, allowed a supplier to charge false and grossly inflated prices for goods amounting to approximately £32,000.

Between 2014 and 2017, he also placed orders for unnecessary stock in order to secure vouchers for his personal gain and knowingly misrepresented personal expenditure as legitimate business expenditure.

This included purchasing a Givenchy purse, Red Letter Day vouchers amounting to nearly £9,000 and Sky Club vouchers amounting to nearly £4,000.