Maxwell case might run on into next year

An optometrist who admitted some allegations related to failures to carry out tests on a young patient might have to wait until next year to learn his fate.

Stuart Andrew Maxwell appeared at a GOC disciplinary hearing earlier this month (News, October 15). The Ashton under Lyne practitioner denied other allegations including claims that he failed to refer the patient, a little girl whom he had seen for a number of years, who later developed amblyopia.

Maxwell told the hearing that he thought he had written a referral letter the first time he had seen her. However, the panel heard that later examinations he carried out at his Hartlepool practice showed no further signs of the condition.

He told the committee on day two of the hearing that as she had got older he had become 'more optimistic' about her sight.
'I did not need to refer her — there was no reason. She was within standard limits,' he said.

Nevertheless, the hearing was told that the girl was eventually referred to her doctor by another practitioner and that ultimately she received treatment at the Sunderland Eye Infirmary. By then there was said to be a question mark over the chances of the treatment being successful because of her age.

Maxwell told the hearing that there had been distractions during his examinations of the girl, including her little brother being present. He said, referring to the first test he carried out on the girl, that there had been a 'lack of concentration', adding she was four years old at the time and it had been impossible to carry out some tests.

He said that he often wrote up details at the end of the examination and denied suggestions that his records were not 'authentic.'

However, Chris Alder, for the Council, told the hearing there had been a failure to carry out 'fundamental' tests, records were not clear and there was a failure to treat her condition.

The committee adjourned the hearing for final submissions. No date has yet been fixed for this, and it may not be until 2006.