Optometrist suspended

An optometrist who provided false records during his pre-registration training has been suspended from practice for three-months and fined £1,000.

AGOC fitness to practise committee found Nicholas Skillicorn guilty of misconduct and his fitness to practise impaired after he admitted dishonestly submitting false records of nine patients in support of his competence.

Now working as an optometrist in a £35,000-a-year post, Skillicorn, formerly a DO, said during the hearing that he had started his course three-months behind the other students and was 'under pressure'. Having had to repeat some of the competencies he had not completed from the first assessment and with January and February 'quiet' he claimed he had experienced difficulty completing the necessary skills.