Tribunal rules against optom

Optometrist Brian Kelly who was disqualified in 2007 from practising with the NHS after defrauding the service of some £30,000 has failed at an appeal to reverse the decision.

In this third appeal by Kelly against Shetland Health Board, the Court of Session heard that he had repaid £12,460 but a balance of £16,938.30 remained from the fees claimed between April 1995 and December 1999 at his former practice, Kelly's Opticians in Shetland.

In the December 28 2012 appeal against unconditional disqualification, judge Lord Carloway ruled in favour of the health service. Among the 'findings in fact' relating to an earlier December 2011 tribunal, which were not challenged at the latest appeal, were that Kelly had practised as an optometrist in a health board area while knowing he was not entitled to, and had failed to comply with provisions in relation to GOS introduced in April 2006.