Arthur Cummings

Medical Director, Wellington Eye Clinic; Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Beacon Hospital; Non-Executive Director, Alcon; Associate Clinical Professor, University College Dublin, Ireland

What industry trends are catching your attention right now?

It appears that multiple companies are diversifying to include diagnostic devices, IOLs, phaco and vitrectomy machines, consumables, vision care, pharma, and so on. Companies are realizing that they need more than one product to survive and thrive.

The EU-MDR is slowing down innovation in Europe and I think we will see a shift to Asia and back to the USA to lead ophthalmic innovation. Some of my colleagues in this space think I am wrong – and I hope I am. 

Reversible procedures are going to flourish. Procedures such as ICL for refractive error or Allotex for the correction of presbyopia are going to continue growing in popularity. One of the reasons is that of reversibility. Many patients fear the permanence of laser vision correction and lens replacement surgery in case they get an unwanted result. With the option of reversibility (removing the ICL or corneal inlay), things return to the preoperative state. I have seen this personally, where someone is contemplating surgery but not quite sure about how to proceed and as soon as a reversible procedure is mentioned, they commit.

What is a little-known fact about you?

I was born and raised in South Africa where I trained and practiced as an ophthalmologist doing mostly VR, refractive, and cataract surgery. We moved to Ireland in 1998 and, for eight years, I could only do laser vision correction surgery. Once I got back to doing intraocular surgery, I had developed a performance-based mindset rather than a pathology-based mindset. It has set me up to have a refractive mindset since then.

I am a big believer in the teams we have around us. Without my team I would achieve much less. Building a great team is crucial to delivering a great service and patient experience.