NHS Trust nominated for national Patient Safety Award following 'groundbreaking' anti-infection work
The Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, which oversees Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury and District hospitals, has been shortlisted for a HSJ Patient Safety Award
The Trust has been shortlisted in the ‘Early-Stage Patient Safety Innovation of the Year’ category for their “groundbreaking” work undertaken to reduce surgical site infections using nasal photodisinfection.
Organised by the Health Service Journal, the Patient Safety Awards celebrate the teams and individuals going above and beyond to protect patients from harm across the UK healthcare sector.
This year’s awards ceremony will take place on September 15 at Manchester Central, and will see hundreds of healthcare professionals from across the country come together to celebrate the healthcare industry.
The Mid Yorkshire Trust’s nomination follows a rigorous judging process conducted by a panel of leading healthcare and patient safety experts.
Dr Stuart Bond, Consultant Antimicrobial Pharmacist and Director of Innovation at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, said: “Being named a finalist is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team.
"Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do, and we’re proud to be shortlisted at this national level.”
The Trust introduced nasal decolonisation for patients undergoing hip and knee replacement surgery (using Steriwave technology) and successfully reduced all surgical site infections by 71 per cent.
The Steriwave treatment is non-invasive, painless and involves applying a proprietary photosensitive agent to each nostril with a nasal swab, followed by illumination with a specific wavelength of red light for five minutes.
The treatment is effective immediately and takes less than five minutes to destroy harmful pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, in the nose.