Optometrist suspended

Locum OO Michelle Brooks has been handed an 18-month interim suspension order by a GOC fitness to practise committee after allegations about her conduct in practice.

The GOC said it received one email and three witness statements in September from Brooks’ colleagues at an unnamed Asda practice. The exact details of the registrant’s conduct were not disclosed by the GOC, but a statement from a team leader said that she was escorted from the premises by security after seeing her last patient for the day.

In 2011, Brooks was given a four-year warning after receiving a conviction for drink driving. The committee said there was a clear risk to patients should Brooks continue in practice and that no workable conditions could have been enforced. It added that the 18-month period reflected the estimated time it would take to investigate the matter.