Sep 2016

RANZCO appointments
The Royal Australian and New Zealand
College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) has
elected Associate Professor Mark Daniell to
be their new president.
A/Prof Daniell is a senior consultant ophthalmic
surgeon and the current head of the corneal
service at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital
in Melbourne. He is the founding chair of the
ANZ Corneal Society, medical director of the Lions
Eye Bank and also head of surgical research at the
Centre for Eye Research Australia. He previously
served on the RANZCO Board for 10 years, most
recently as vice president.
As RANZCO president, A/Prof Daniell says his
focus will be on advancing ophthalmology as a
profession, enhancing professional standards and
advocating for eye patients in the medical system.
“RANZCO plays an important role in improving
eye health outcomes for people across Australia
and New Zealand, and further afield, by ensuring
the highest possible standards of ophthalmology
training and representing the interests of people
with eye health problem. As president I aim to
build on the important work that we have done
in improving people’s eye health and further
RANZCO’s position as a leading provider of
medical education and professional and patient
advocacy.”
Outgoing RANZCO president, Dr Bradley
Horsburgh said, “As vice president, Mark was
dedicated to furthering the objectives of
the profession and the patients who rely on
ophthalmology. He was an enormous support
to me in my role as president and I am confident
that his expertise, determination and drive will
make him an excellent and successful president.”
A/Prof Daniell will serve as president elect until
the RANZCO Congress in November when Dr
Horsburgh stands down.
New censor-in-chief
In other news, Auckland Eye’s Dr Justin Mora
has been appointed censor-in-chief at RANZCO.
New Bailey Nelson practice
Australian-based Bailey Nelson have
continued their expansion in New Zealand
by opening a fourth outlet in Takapuna,
Auckland. The new store, or boutique as they
prefer them to be called, opened its doors in July.
Other Bailey Nelson boutiques are in Ponsonby,
Auckland, Wellington and Riccarton, Christchurch.
“The Takapuna store was really driven by
customer demand,” says JC Hinsley, NZ country
manager for Bailey Nelson. “People visiting our
boutique in Ponsonby would ask us, ‘when will
you come to the North Shore?’ Takapuna is a
great, developing location and we are looking
forward to being part of the local vibe.”
Bailey Nelson launched in Australia in September
2012, originally just selling frames at the Bondi
markets before moving into bricks and mortar
stores and full optometry services. It keeps costs
low by manufacturing its own products, allowing
the company to provide glasses, plus lenses and
coatings, for as little as $125.
“We source our materials globally, our acetate
Bailey Nelson Takapuna has a vintage beach theme
Previously the chief examiner, a role he has held
for five years, Dr Mora was elected to his new
position on 23 May.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my job as chief
examiner but this new role has far greater scope
as it encompasses all the education programs of
the College,” said Dr Mora. “I can’t pretend I’m
not a little anxious about the amount of work
it will entail but I am looking forward to the
challenge.”
The role means Dr Mora will be the head
of education for RANZCO and responsible for
training programme selection, the training
itself, accreditation of training hospitals,
assessment of overseas trained ophthalmologists
and continuing education for the 1200
ophthalmologists in Australia and New Zealand.
Dr Mora was also made a director of RANZCO
and takes on both posts from September. ▀
A/Prof Mark Daniell will take up the reins at RANZCO
from November
is sourced from Mazzucchelli in Italy, and we
work closely with our manufacturers,” says
Hinsley. “We design in-house to create ranges
with what you could call vintage futurism, but
we prefer ‘classic with a twist’ with new frame
ranges released regularly.”
The company now has 20 stores in Australia, he
says. “Our hallmark is to provide a professional
rather than clinical optometry service, blended
within a retail environment.”
This retail environment is something Bailey
Nelson spends a lot of time thinking about, says
Hinsley, with each store having a cohesive feel
while still maintaining a local flavour.
“Our Ponsonby store is all about dark wood and
features celebrating the craft behind creating our
eyewear, while our new Takapuna boutique has
a more relaxed, beach-chic vibe, with surfboards
and a clean, vintage flavour,” says Hinsley. “We
like to take inspiration from the local area and we
see each of our boutique designs as a part of the
community.” ▀
Results of global myopia survey
The full results of a global
survey into myopia
management will be
presented at the first ever British
Contact Lens Association Asia
(BCLA) event this month.
More than 1,000 eye care
practitioners from across the
world were asked about their
views on the increasing rates of
myopia in children, and their most
frequently prescribed myopia
management strategies and their
relative effectiveness. Practitioners
were also asked their reasons
for prescribing conventional
spectacles when myopia control
strategies are available.
Results reveal that eye care practitioners are
generally aware of a range of different methods of
myopia control.
In a statement promoting the event, BCLA
keynote speaker Professor James Wolffsohn said,
“Unsurprisingly, concern was the highest among
eye care professionals in Asia, where myopia
is most prevalent. However, regardless of their
geographical location, practitioners correctly
GenOp NZ appointment
General Optical (GenOp) announced that
Tritan Imports, a distributor of action
sports gear based in Mt Maunganui, will
represent the entire GenOp portfolio and look
after GenOp’s New Zealand customer base. Tritan
has been distributing Dragon sunglasses to the
New Zealand market for the past seven years,
so it was an obvious choice to take on the full
portfolio of brands, said Paul Jones, GenOp’s head
of sales and marketing.
“In the last seven years, Tritan has delivered
exceptional customer service while taking the
BY STEVE STENERSEN & SUE KAIN
Professor James Wolffsohn
It is with much sadness that we are writing this
obituary for our special friend, Dr David Wilson.
We met David back in the mid-90s while
ADONZ was negotiating with the Open Training
and Education Network (OTEN) to deliver David’s
dispensing optician’s course to New Zealand. This
allowed New Zealand to have access to OTEN,
their resources, and a group of brilliant teachers.
What started as a professional relationship very
quickly became a personal friendship with David,
his wife Jan and their son Andrew.
David was a very clever man. He was also
extremely humble and always happy to share
his knowledge with anyone who asked for
his help. This is evident within ADONZ where
David personally taught more than half of the
members. The rest will have, at some stage in
their career, attended one of the many lectures
David wrote and presented to New Zealand.
David not only taught dispensing opticians,
he taught optics to optometrists and
ophthalmologists in Australian universities. He
was regarded as a world class lecturer, lecturing
throughout the globe with the Brien Holden
Vision Institute.
In 2012 David received his PhD after three and
a half years of study and research. Part of his
PhD involved a feasibility study on the viability
of using donated second-hand glasses in low
socio-economic countries. After proving it was less
expensive to use ready-made or cheap single vision
glasses, he received threats from prison inmates
whose job it was to sort the donated spectacles.
Each year at ADONZ conference there is a
dress up theme. David always embraced this
and participated each year. One particular
year David got a whisper he was going to be
court marshalled for being an Australian. The
punishment was to perform the Haka in front
of everyone. When the time arrived David took
his punishment good naturedly. He stood front
and centre on stage, dressed as Dracula, and led
the Haka perfectly. What no one knew was that
David had practised the Haka to perfection. He
knew the words, the meaning of the words, the
stances, facial expressions, and all the actions.
identified orthokeratology,
pharmaceutical agents and
outdoor activity as the most
effective methods to slow down
myopia progression.
“Nevertheless, two thirds of
practitioners would still only
consider conventional glasses
or contact lenses for correcting
their myopic patients, citing
increased cost (35.6%), the lack of
convincing information (33.3%)
and unpredictable outcomes
(28.2%) as the main setbacks.”
A survey in Hong Kong,
indicated that orthokeratology
was the most commonly known
treatment for myopia control
in children. Although parents were receptive to
the use of orthokeratology for myopia control in
children, however, the survey also showed they
were conservative with the use of contact lenses
for myopic correction only, with safety cited as the
major concern.
Full results will be presented during the inaugural
BCLA two-day conference in Hong Kong from 13-14
September. ▀
Dragon brand to new
heights. We know they’ll
do the same for our full
portfolio of eyewear and
lenses.”
Tritan chief executive
Koenraad Groot has
appointed Pablo Hurford
Pablo Hurford, GenOp’s
new NZ account manager
as GenOp’s account manager to focus entirely on
GenOp’s New Zealand customer base. Hurford
has an extensive background in retail sales
management and will be based in Auckland. ▀
Obituary: Dr David Wilson
19/12/1954 – 21/07/2016
After that effort he
earned his “Honorary
Kiwiship”.
Since 1995, the
Dr David Wilson
contributions David
has made to dispensing
opticians in New Zealand is, in our opinion,
unsurpassed. In that time he helped set up
OptiBlocks and remained on the management
team until he passed away. Each time OptiBlocks
moved premises David was always there to help
pack, transport, and unpack the equipment in
the new premises. He attended every conference
for 22 years, except one, when he was in hospital
receiving treatment. He wrote and delivered
lectures and CPD articles for New Zealand DOs
every year. He researched legislation and attended
Board meetings on behalf of our industry. The
most amazing part is that it was done in David’s
own time, and mostly at his own expense.
David had a great sense of humour. He loved
a good laugh and did not mind if it was at his
own expense. He enjoyed recalling stories, often
where he was the butt of the joke. One story
in particular involved drilling holes in a bench
for a hand edger. David had “taken control” of
measuring the placement of holes for edging
machines. He carefully measured several times
the holes that were to be drilled. Unfortunately
David had turned the machine upside down
to take the measurements. The finished holes
ended up a mirror image of what was required
with the placement being reversed.
One of David’s passions was writing. He spent
most of his time writing, or reviewing other
authors’ work while employed with Brien Holden
Vision. He wrote a style guide (17 versions) to
ensure each author wrote the same way and
allowed the text to flow between authors.
David was the main author for two text books,
Practical Optical Dispensing and Practical Optical
Workshop. These were both updated last year.
It was hoped David would write material for the
new dispensing optician’s course in the pipeline.
David’s death is a terrible loss and the New
Zealand industry will never quite be the same
without him. He was a special friend who we will
miss forever. ▀
18 NEW ZEALAND OPTICS September 2016