OO cleared of misconduct

A pre-registration optometrist alleged to have failed to identify a retinal detachment has been cleared of misconduct by a General Optical Council fitness to practise committee.

Elizabeth Dawson, now a qualified optometrist, appeared before the committee last week. The allegations came after a visit in July 2008 by a patient to Specsavers in Brighouse, West Yorkshire. The patient underwent pre-examination tests by, the committee believed, an optical assistant, consisting of auto-refraction, non-contact tonometry and fundus photography. The patient was then taken by Dawson for an eye examination and contact lens assessment. Dawson was made aware of the patient's concerns and symptoms - a left superior visual defect, floaters in both eyes and a large central floater in both eyes.