Optometrist suspended over alleged lewd comments to a female patient
An optometrist alleged to have made lewd comments to a female patient during an eye examination has been handed a 12-month suspension order by a GOC fitness to practise committee.
Stewart Clough was alleged to have made a series of remarks and gestures during a sight test in December 2015 at Value Vision in Manchester. The committee alleged that Clough told the patient she had a ‘cracking figure’ and slid his hand down her arm without her consent.
The committee heard that upon learning about the complaint to the GOC, Clough used confidential patient records to obtain the woman’s address and hand-deliver a letter offering financial reward and free glasses to withdraw the complaint.