Colchester-based optometrist Mark Walker has been erased from the GOC register after GOS papers were altered and a patient was ‘tested’ while asleep.
He was found by the GOC to have caused or permitted the alteration of GOS paperwork, ‘knowing that he would receive payment on submission of that paperwork’.
The GOC committee found his fitness to practise impaired by virtue of misconduct, and also found that Walker had failed to provide an adequate standard of care to patients in care homes.
It was reported he had performed a sight test on a patient who remained asleep during the whole period of the test, and had therefore failed to obtain consent.
In making the decision, the committee, chaired by Eileen Carr, said: ‘The registrant’s actions put patients at unwarranted risk of harm and were for financial gain. The committee was satisfied that the registrant’s actions amount to a serious departure from the relevant professional standards. He acted dishonestly, over a period of time, putting a group of highly vulnerable patients at risk of harm and abusing their trust.’
Walker has until September 3 to appeal his erasure, during which time he would be suspended.