Muhammad “Bobby” Qureshi with Eastenders star June Brown (photo: COLLECT)

A prominent consultant ophthalmologist has been struck off the UK medical register after a tribunal found that his private eye hospital used high pressure sales techniques to persuade patients to pay for treatments that offered no realistic prospect of helping them.

The British medical Journal reports Muhammad “Bobby” Qureshi misled patients - many of whom had incurable wet age-related macular degeneration - into thinking he could improve their vision, a medical practitioners tribunal found.

The tribunal heard Qureshi could become evasive or aggressive if patients complained the promised benefits had not materialised.

Qureshi had previously operated on Eastenders star June Brown, who plays Dot Cotton in the long-running soap, as well as other celebrity clients. Dozens of patients have been left out of pocket and with lasting eye damage after surgery at his Optical Express clinic in England. Former patients have even set up a website and support group, even with merchandise bearing the line ‘Optical Express ruined my life.”

Qureshi was found to have put elderly patients at risk for personal financial gain and will no longer be allowed to practise in the UK after being struck off the General Medical Council register in September.