Locum is guilty of misconduct

Optometrist Ajmer Wahiwala has been handed a 12-month suspension by a General Optical Council fitness to practise committee after it found him guilty of misconduct.

It was alleged that Wahiwala, a self-employed locum who ceased practising in 2011, misled the GOC as to potential reasons why his fitness to practise could have been impaired on retention applications. The committee alleged that the registrant did not disclose information about his well-being for a period of six years, beginning with his 2005/2006 application.

The committee said Wahiwala's defence revolved around him not understanding that he had to inform the GOC of any well-being matters on an annual basis and believed that an initial disclosure into his circumstances in 2000 would have been sufficient.