Mid Yorkshire and Ondine win national excellence in healthcare partnership award | News

Ondine Biomedical and Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust (“Mid Yorks”) have won the Excellence in Healthcare Partnership Award in the Partnership Working to Address National Healthcare Priorities (Local Projects) category, recognising their collaboration to significantly reduce surgical site infections (SSIs) using Ondine’s Steriwave® nasal photodisinfection technology. 

The winning initiative follows the successful pilot and ongoing introduction of Steriwave nasal photodisinfection into orthopaedic surgery pathways at Mid Yorks in 2024. Implemented for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery, the intervention was associated with a 71% reduction in post-surgical infections in hip surgery, with no SSIs observed in knee surgery during the evaluation period. In addition to improving patient outcomes, the programme delivered meaningful cost savings by reducing avoidable complications and associated hospital resource use. 

Since the initial implementation at Mid Yorks, Steriwave is now being used or evaluated by several major hospitals across England in a range of surgical specialties, as well as in intensive care following cardiac surgery. Adoption has been driven in part by increasing concern over antibiotic resistance and poor patient compliance, which limit the effectiveness of typical antibiotic-based nasal decolonisation. Unlike antibiotics, photodisinfection rapidly destroys bacteria, viruses and fungi without generating resistance, offering an immediately effective alternative that supports long-term antimicrobial stewardship and lowers post-surgical infection rates. 

Carolyn Cross, CEO of Ondine, commented: 

Winning this national award is a powerful validation of what can be achieved when NHS clinicians and industry partners work together to tackle real-world challenges. This recognition reflects not only the strength of our partnership with Mid Yorkshire, but also the growing acknowledgement that non-antibiotic innovations like Ondine’s photodisinfection technology can play a vital role in improving patient safety, reducing avoidable complications and supporting the sustainability of healthcare systems.

Dr Stuart Bond, Consultant Antimicrobial Pharmacist and Director of Innovation at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, added: 

This award recognises the impact of a collaboration focused squarely on patient safety and clinical outcomes. Reducing surgical site infections is critical for patients and for the NHS, and we are proud that our work with Ondine has been recognised nationally as an example of how innovation can be successfully integrated into routine care.

The award, announced at the 2026 Excellence in Healthcare Partnership (EHP) Awards ceremony, celebrates partnerships between the NHS and industry that deliver measurable improvements in patient safety, system efficiency and antimicrobial stewardship. The Ondine–Mid Yorks collaboration was recognised for addressing one of the NHS’s most urgent challenges of reducing SSIs while limiting reliance on antibiotics. 

Ondine and Mid Yorks have also been shortlisted as a finalist for the HSJ Partnership Awards in the category Most Impactful Use of Technology on Clinical Practice, reinforcing the growing momentum behind photodisinfection as a practical, non-antibiotic approach to infection prevention within the NHS. Winners of the HJS Partnership Awards will be announced at the awards ceremony on 19 March 2026.