Suspension extended

An optometrist suspended for 12 months in March 2012 has been given an additional six-month suspension at a GOC fitness to practise committee review hearing.

Mark Morgan was originally suspended when the committee heard he did not take intraocular eye pressures in examinations where patients were over the age of 60. He then falsified the readings on their records.

The committee said Morgan showed insufficient evidence at the review hearing that he had remediated his dishonesty and that his fitness to practise remained impaired.

The committee said erasure was not proportionate and suspension remained sufficient sanction to protect patients and the public interest. It said it had decided to give the registrant another chance to demonstrate he was a fit and proper member of the profession.