OO cleared

Optometrist Stuart Maxwell was cleared of serious professional misconduct by a GOC disciplinary committee last week.

The practitioner had admitted some allegations related to failure to carry out tests on a young patient at an earlier hearing, but denied others, including claims that he failed to refer the patient, a little girl, who later developed amblyopia.

Chairman Heather Wilcox, said: 'We think it possible that the catastrophic loss of vision... could have resulted from conditions other than amblyopia.'

Finding the allegation not proven, she added that the gaps in the evidence 'leaves us with reasonable doubt that Mr Maxwell's performance, while poor in some respects, falls seriously short of the standard to be applied to a reasonably competent optometrist'.