GOC erases Leicester based optometrist

The General Optical Council (GOC), the UK regulator for optometrists and dispensing opticians, has erased Honey Rose, an optometrist based in Leicester, from its register.

A GOC Fitness to Practise Committee imposed the sanction at a hearing which concluded on 26 July 2022, after the case was remitted from the High Court in November 2021. Ms Rose is now unable to practise as an optometrist in the UK.

The Committee found her fitness to practise currently impaired by reason of misconduct. This is in relation to earlier findings of a failure to carry out an adequate internal eye examination; inaccurate and misleading record keeping, which in relation to one entry was also dishonest; and the failure to detect the signs and/or presence of bilateral papilloedema.

As part of its written determination on sanction, the Committee concluded: “Public confidence in the profession would not be maintained if the Registrant remained on the Register. The Committee could not ignore the serious nature of that misconduct and the fact that the Registrant is yet to provide an insightful explanation of how this misconduct occurred. It determined that the protection of the public and wider public interest concerns that it had already identified outweighed the interests of the Registrant.”

Ms Rose has until 22 August 2022 to appeal against her erasure, during which time she is subject to an immediate suspension order.

The thoughts of everyone at the GOC are with the family of Vinnie Barker.