// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
NHS staff get 'landmark' payout over gas exposure
Maternity unit staff were not told for more than a year that testing had revealed their workplace was breaching safety limits for nitrous oxide
NHS maternity staff who were exposed to excessive levels of nitrous oxide have received "landmark" payouts totalling £735,000, a union said.
Basildon Hospital in Essex settled claims from 121 staff, including 85 midwives, who took legal action after reporting fatigue, anxiety, headaches and "brain fog" after the gas levels breached safety limits.
The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust said it had apologised to staff.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said it was the largest group legal action ever brought by midwives in the UK.
The gas, also known as Entonox, is used to provide temporary pain relief for women giving birth.
The staff members behind the claims were found to have breathed it in over long shifts for months and years.
According to an internal report from Basildon Hospital, some members of staff were exposed to levels up to 30 times higher than the legal workplace exposure limit between 2021 and 2023.
They were also not told for 16 months about test results commissioned by the trust that showed their exposure had breached safety thresholds.
The legal action was first revealed by the BBC in May.