Gill Walton, the RCM chief executive and general secretary, said: “For years, midwives at Basildon were breathing in nitrous oxide at dangerous levels while they cared for women and babies.
“Even once the problem had been discovered, it was more than a year before staff were told. That is simply not acceptable and no midwife should ever be treated that way,” she said.
She continued: “This is a landmark settlement for our members and it should make every NHS employer sit up and take notice. If you don’t protect your staff – the RCM will hold you to account”.
The RCM has also written to every NHS trust in England to make them aware of the risks of the gas and said it had also “raised concerns about the trust’s lack of action” with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The RCM has since worked directly with the HSE to update and improve guidance on the use of Entonox.
Louise Crosby, the chief nursing and quality officer for the 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.”
The trust added that it had installed scavenger equipment at the maternity unit and that women could have confidence that it is safe to use Entonox.
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