Basildon midwives win LANDMARK £750,000 payout after breathing nitrous oxide at 30 times the legal limit

A group of more than 120 midwives and maternity staff at Basildon University Hospital in Essex secured nearly £750,000 in what stands as the biggest group legal action ever filed by midwives in the UK, after being exposed to nitrous oxide at concentrations reaching 30 times the permitted workplace level. The trust was aware of the dangerous readings by June 2021 but kept staff uninformed until October 2022, then held off introducing safety measures until 2023.

Leaking gas lines and inadequate ventilation on the maternity unit left staff at risk for two years, causing health problems that included fatigue, headaches, brain fog and anxiety.

Solicitor Daniel Poet said the trust 'knew about the dangers in 2021' but the delay in acting was 'unacceptable' and staff 'should never have been put at risk in the first place.'

An independent review by the Good Governance Institute found Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust had made an 'unacceptable delay' in responding to concerns first raised in July 2021.