Myopic until proven emmetropic is a mantra adopted by Peter Ivins Eyecare and it proved a winning formula with the judges for selection of owner practitioner Craig McArthur as the victor in the Myopia Management category at the 2023 Optician Awards.
For many practices, myopia management is an emerging area of work but McArthur has been blazing a trail for the technique since 2010. As well as practising myopia management, McArthur has been a vocal and generous advocate; lecturing, hosting and writing about the topic for fellow professionals.
Not surprisingly, when Optician and CooperVision teamed up to create the Myopia Management category, colleagues from within the profession suggested to McArthur he should enter for the Award.
‘I wasn’t aware it was a category until after last year’s Awards,’ he says. Several friends from within the industry, optometrists and others who had read about the Award suggested I should apply due to the work we have done within myopia management.
McArthur’s entry was a blueprint for managing myopia, that initial assumption of myopia leads on to a comprehensive programme of treatment. This includes eye exams from two-year-olds, axial length measurement for all kids, cycloplegic refraction for four to six-year-olds and genetic, binocular vision and lifestyle assessment. This is backed by targeted and tailored online marketing and comprehensive follow up and education.
Despite all of this, McArthur was aware of exceptional practices across the country he knew would be giving him a run for his money. ‘I feel our practice, as an early adopter of myopia management, has focused its attention slightly differently than other practices. Rather than focusing on making our piece of the myopia management pie larger, we have simply aimed at making the pie itself larger. To do this we have worked hard at improving public awareness of myopia management.
‘Our website, our search engine optimisation and marketing strategies, our social media campaigns, our blog, targeted landing pages, automated triggered email campaigns and e-newsletters are testament to this. Our aim has simply been to ensure as many children up and down the UK have the opportunity that myopia management offers.’
He says that pie is expanding. ‘Myopia management has slowly become the standard of care for myopic children. It has taken a long time but is finally at the point where it would be considered mainstream. It is no longer viewed as a niche offering like when we first started dabbling with off-label use of multifocal contact lenses back in 2010. One of the main differences I have seen is some practices being actively more interested in delivering child eye care. Practices that were previously borderline adult-only clinics are now attracting and providing eye care to children.’
He is now interested to see if myopia practice develops as an offering in all practices or if it becomes a refer-on specialism.
As with many Optician Award winners he is also keen to see policy-makers use optometry skills in areas such as myopia to free up secondary care.
‘The continued upskilling of UK optometrists with IP and other post-grad diplomas means we have a veritable army of primary health care providers well trained and armed to the teeth with retinal cameras, OCTs, biometers, topographers, photo-slit lamps, ultra widefield cameras, etc, ready to co-manage an ever-growing list of eye conditions to help reduce the burden on our already over-stretched ophthalmology colleagues.’ But the correct funding and pathways are needed to help cut waiting lists and realise savings.
The Awards achievement completed a double for Peter Ivins Eyecare, which scooped the Technology Practice Award in 2015 and he enjoyed his second visit to the event. McArthur sees the Awards as a way to catch up with friends, a great networking opportunity for optics, saying it was: ‘A fantastic night out. Russell Kane was excellent. His 15 minutes of optometry comedy was sensational.’
Despite this enviable track record, the win still came as a surprise. ‘The other nominees for this particular award were fantastic. I thought of all the categories the Myopia Management Award had the strongest roster of potential winners. You could really have rolled a dice and found a fantastic winner from this bunch. Naturally, I was elated at the win. It was a fantastic way to end the year for our practice.’
While the win was individual, McArthur is keen to stress it was only possible because of the practice team. ‘The first thing I did was to message the rest of our team. I always viewed it as a practice award and the efforts the team put into delivering the best myopia management experience we can for our young patients. Without careful planning of diaries and explanations of the clinic by our front of house team; the clinical support from our clinical assistants in capturing images and metrics from the kids and the combined efforts of our optometrists and dispensing opticians in delivering the best myopia management strategy, the myopia management clinic wouldn’t run as smoothly.’
The best celebration, he says, was bringing the trophy home to his six-year-old son, Noah, who was ‘very proud of daddy’. And to his wife, Jennifer, who was over eight months pregnant but allowed him to attend the Awards. ‘She gave birth to our daughter Isabella a few weeks later,’ he adds.
The trophy now sits next to the Technology Practice of the Year Award in pride of place in the waiting area at the Glasgow practice and an e-newsletter was sent out informing patients and colleagues of the win.
The next job is promoting the Award as part of its website update, says McArthur. ‘It has timed nicely with the revamp of the myopia management section of our website, which should be complete next month.’
Myopia Management Award sponsored by CooperVisionWinner:
Shortlisted:
Iain Johnson, Johnson and Leatherbarrow Opticians
Keyur Patel, Tompkins Knight & Son Optometrists
Bhavin Shah, Central Vision Opticians
Alex Smith, Michael Offord Optometrist
