Optometrist made false claims to health insurance provider

A Leeds-based optometrist has been handed a 12-month suspension order after a General Optical Council fitness to practice committee heard she made multiple submissions of false receipts for financial gain over a ten-year period.

The committee alleged Simone Boyd created receipts for products she had received free of charge and later submitted them to a health insurance provider which covered the cost of optical appliances. The GOC said she obtained nearly £1,500 to which she was not entitled, but had since paid the money back to the insurance provider.

In making the decision, the committee, chaired by Ian Crookall, said: ‘It was determined that the registrant’s past actions had brought the profession into disrepute and breached fundamental tenets of the profession.