Suspension after dispensing to under 16s

Essex-based dispensing optician Ivan Jason Kidgell has been suspended for 12 months by a General Optical Council fitness to practise committee after a panel found him guilty of misconduct.

The committee heard that Kidgell had dispensed spectacles to patients under the age of 16 while he was not appropriately registered.

In handing down sanction, the committee, chaired by Dr Pamela Ormerod, said: ‘The registrant has offered no explanation of the reasons behind his failure to maintain his registration in the material before the Committee, other than a reference to a possible financial issue and some difficulties of communication with the Council. Once Mr Kidgell’s employer had suspended him, he completed the process of his registration in a very short period.’