A substantive hearing to determine whether the fitness to practise of Naftali Everard Bastien is impaired by the virtue of the provisions contained in Section 13D (2) of the Opticians Act will take place on February 5 in London.
A GOC fitness to practise committee will consider allegations that the registered optometrist is guilty of 'deficient professional performance' in that on August 22, 2006 he examined Patient A and he did not refer her on an emergency, same-day basis when referral was appropriate in the light of her intra-ocular pressure measurements.
It is also alleged that on the same date Bastien did not adequately record the period for which Patient A had been suffering from diabetes, the way in which the diabetes was being controlled, findings of an examination of the anterior segment of the eye by way of slit lamp biomicroscopy and the results of visual field assessments.