NHS pays staff after gas exposure at Hospital
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One hundred and twenty-one NHS maternity staff at Basildon Hospital in Essex, England, received a total of £735,000 in payouts after legal action revealed they were exposed to dangerous levels of nitrous oxide gas.
The staff, including 85 midwives, experienced fatigue, anxiety, headaches, and cognitive difficulties after breathing in the gas, used for pain relief during childbirth, over months and years.
An internal hospital report found staff were exposed to levels of nitrous oxide up to 30 times the legal workplace safety limit between 2021 and 2023. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust admitted to the exposure and apologised to staff, but did not inform them of the breached safety thresholds for 16 months after commissioning tests. The Royal College of Midwives, which brought the legal action, called it the largest of its kind in the UK.
NHS Resolution confirmed the payouts and noted that some claims remain unresolved. The trust has since installed new equipment and improved monitoring of medical gases at the maternity unit, and the RCM is working with the Health and Safety Executive to improve guidance on gas use.
