Eye test woman spared prison

An optometrist who failed to spot symptoms of a life-threatening brain condition during a routine eye test of an eight-yearold boy who later died has been sentenced to a two-year suspended prison term.

Honey Rose, 35, failed to notice that Vincent Barker had swollen optic discs when she examined him at a branch of Boots in Ipswich.

The abnormality is a symptom of hydrocephalus, fluid on the brain, and Vincent died in July 2012, about five months after the eye test.

Rose had not looked at retinal photos taken by a colleague and failed to examine the backs of his eyes with an opthalmoscope, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

She had carried out thousands of examinations over years and was “generally competent”.

Judge Jeremy Stuart-

“You simply departed from your normal practice”

Smith, sentencing, said although it was a “single lapse”, the breach of duty was so serious that it was criminal.

The landmark case is thought to be the first conviction of an optometrist for gross negligence manslaughter.

Gross negligence manslaughtercasesgenerally involve multiple lapses over a period of time and involve obvious symptoms that would lead to a health practitioner referring someone for immediate treatment.

Judge Stuart-Smith told Rose: “You simply departed from your normal practice in a way that was completely untypical for you, a one-off, for no good reason.”

Rose had tried to “cover up” her actions whenshe found out Vincent had died, claiming he had not co-operated and showed signs of photophobia.