No laughing matter: Midwives win £750,000 after being exposed to nitrous oxide at hospital

More than 120 midwives and maternity staff have been awarded almost £750,000 in compensation after being exposed to high levels of nitrous oxide.

The compound, known as laughing gas, is used for pain relief in labour, but long-term exposure has side-effects.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said staff at Basildon University Hospital were exposed due to poor ventilation on the maternity unit and leaking gas lines from 2021 to 2023.

Midwives reported symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, brain fog and anxiety. The RCM took legal action on behalf of more than 120 workers, with a settlement of almost £750,000 agreed.

Daniel Poet, of the RCM's solicitors, Thompsons, said: 'We're proud to have secured compensation for our clients, but they should never have been put at risk in the first place.

'The trust knew about the dangers in 2021, but staff weren't told until the following year and it took another year for safety measures to be introduced.'

An independent review in 2024 by the Good Governance Institute found an 'unacceptable delay' by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

It concluded midwives and other staff on the maternity unit were 'exposed to unnecessary risk or potential harm' and that high levels of gas on wards 'needed to be treated as a significant risk to health' when concerns were raised in July 2021, but this was not done until October 2022. 

Gill Walton, head of the RCM, said: 'For years, midwives were breathing in nitrous oxide at dangerous levels while caring for women and babies. Even once the problem had been discovered, it was more than a year before staff were told.'

She hailed the settlement as a 'landmark' that 'should make every NHS employer sit up and take notice' but stressed that the gas is safe for women to use for pain relief during labour, saying: 'This case was about the conditions midwives were working in, not the gas itself.'

She added: 'No settlement can fix the crumbling buildings midwives are working in across the UK.

'Too many are still working in units with failing ventilation, leaking equipment and outdated facilities.

'Our members continue to report recurring problems with ventilation and clean air systems and we are taking these up at local level.

'They must be fixed, in Basildon and in every maternity service across the UK.

'Safe workplaces mean safe care.

'The Government must invest urgently to bring maternity buildings up to standard.

'We will not stop until every midwife can go to work without fearing for their health.'

Louise Crosby, chief nursing and quality officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We have acknowledged that we should have acted faster to address the issues and have apologised to staff.

'Since the incident we have learnt lessons, and as part of this, we have improved our oversight of the monitoring of medical gases across the maternity unit at Basildon Hospital.'

A spokesman for the trust said: 'We should have acted faster to address the issues and have apologised to staff. We've learnt lessons and improved oversight of monitoring medical gases across the maternity unit at Basildon Hospital.'