An NHS trust has paid nearly £750,000 in compensation to over 120 maternity staff after they were exposed to dangerous levels of nitrous oxide due to poor ventilation and leaking gas lines.

More than 120 midwives and maternity staff at Basildon University Hospital were awarded almost £750,000 by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust after being exposed to high levels of nitrous oxide from leaking gas lines and poor ventilation between 2021 and 2023.