Breach of boundaries

St. Albans-based dispensing optician John Snelgrove has been suspended for six months after a General Optical Council fitness to practise panel found him guilty of misconduct.

The GOC alleged Snelgrove tried to pursue a sexual relationship with a patient and used the individual’s personal information to contact them.

The committee said Snelgrove had shown ‘inadequate appreciation of the impact and gravity of his actions and the impact on the patient, despite undertaking CPD on professional boundaries in health and social care ahead of the hearing.

‘The registrant was an experienced professional and should have been well aware that what he was doing was an unacceptable breach of professional boundaries,’ said the committee in its determination.