Houman Motamedi
Introduction
Houman Motamedi is a hearing aid dispenser who was struck off the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register in October 2024 after a panel found he had communicated unprofessionally with a patient and repeatedly failed to carry out fundamental hearing assessments, keep complete clinical records and make onward referrals while working at a Specsavers store in Woking. The failings spanned February to July 2018 and affected numerous vulnerable patients, a significant number of whom had to be recalled for further assessment. The panel found limited insight, insufficient remediation and a continuing risk of harm, and decided no sanction short of removal would protect the public.
Background Information
Motamedi worked as a registered hearing aid dispenser at Specsavers Hearcare in Woking. The case that ended his registration centres on a single complaint consultation on 26 February 2018 and a six-month audit window between 1 February and 31 July 2018, during which the HCPC alleged he did not consistently carry out the assessments and testing his role required — otoscopy, bone conduction testing, air conduction testing and masking — and used his own notes template that omitted key referable-condition criteria, including history of pain, hyperacusis, fluctuating hearing and sudden hearing loss within ninety days. Specsavers later audited appointment records from the period, categorising shortcomings as Category 1 recalls, where a clinical procedure had to be repeated to eliminate the presence of referable conditions, and Category 2 recalls, where further questioning of the patient was required.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Struck off after skipped assessments, incomplete templates and missed referrals left vulnerable patients needing recall. The panel found the matters proved amounted to misconduct; the Registrant’s insight was limited and his evidence of courses and reflection was not before the panel.
The complaint consultation itself produced the panel’s most quoted findings: Motamedi told the patient “I own the business and can do what I like” or words to that effect, said he had recorded the appointment when he had not, and did not tell the patient that a colleague would be observing the consultation. Around that, the panel found he had failed to complete required assessments and testing, utilised an incomplete notes template, did not adequately record his reasons for skipped assessments and onward referrals, did not consistently make required referrals for five named patients, and did not consistently complete patient questionnaires for five more. The panel found all the areas proved amounted to misconduct, with the failures affecting numerous vulnerable patients and exposing them to a risk of potential harm. Aggravating factors included a pattern of disregard for proper assessment, testing and referral procedures, the vulnerable patient group, unprofessional and unethical behaviour towards the complainant, and the significant number of patients who had to be recalled. Mitigation was thin: no previous regulatory findings, limited insight into the communication particular and regret about the complainant’s experience — while his claim to have undertaken relevant courses and reflection was unsupported by any evidence before the panel.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The outcome is recorded on the official HCPTS hearings site and on MedicWatch’s independent record of regulator determinations, with Motamedi listed among struck-off allied-health practitioners on MedicWatch’s erasures list. The panel had no confidence that a conditions of practice order or a suspension period would protect the public, citing the continuing risk of harm, and directed that his name be struck from the register. The decision followed a remote hearing in October 2024 at which notice had been properly served; the registrant was aware of the proceedings and had been in contact with the HCPC’s representatives that morning.
Current Status
Motamedi was struck off the HCPC register, the most severe sanction available to the panel, and the striking-off order removes his ability to work as a registered hearing aid dispenser in the UK. The October 2024 determination records impairment on both the personal and public components, a risk of repetition, and the panel’s conclusion that no lesser sanction was workable. He has not published any public statement on the findings, and no appeal outcome appears in the fetched record.
Impact on Their Career/Life
A hearing aid dispenser’s registration is his licence to work, and Motamedi’s removal from the register ends his UK clinical career in the profession unless a future restoration application ever succeeds. The recall exercise at the Woking store — patients brought back so procedures could be repeated or checked — remains the concrete measure of how far his practice fell short, and the panel’s findings on assessment, record-keeping and referral are permanently searchable on the HCPTS site and on independent records such as MedicWatch.