Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 24 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
More than 120 midwives and maternity staff have been awarded almost £750,000 in compensation after being exposed to high levels of nitrous oxide.
asserted
midwives → award → oxide
The compound, known as laughing gas, is used for pain relief in labour, but long-term exposure has side-effects.
asserted
exposure → know → 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.
asserted
staff → say → 2023
Midwives reported symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, brain fog and anxiety.
asserted
Midwives → report → fatigue
The RCM took legal action on behalf of more than 120 workers, with a settlement of almost £750,000 agreed.
asserted
RCM → take → 750,000
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.
'
asserted
they → say → 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.
asserted
measures → know → year
'
An independent review in 2024 by the Good Governance Institute found an 'unacceptable delay' by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
asserted
review → find → 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.
asserted
this → conclude → October
More than 120 midwives and maternity staff have been awarded almost £750,000 in compensation after being exposed to high levels of nitrous oxide (stock image)
asserted
midwives → award → oxide
Gill Walton, head of the RCM, said: 'For years, midwives were breathing in nitrous oxide at dangerous levels while caring for women and babies.
asserted
midwives → say → women
Even once the problem had been discovered, it was more than a year before staff were told.'
asserted
staff → discover → ?
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.'
asserted
midwives → hail → conditions
She added: 'No settlement can fix the crumbling buildings midwives are working in across the UK.
'
asserted
midwives → add → UK
Too many are still working in units with failing ventilation, leaking equipment and outdated facilities.
asserted
many → work → ventilation
Our members continue to report recurring problems with ventilation and clean air systems and we are taking these up at local level.
'
asserted
we → continue → level
They must be fixed, in Basildon and in every maternity service across the UK.
asserted
They → fix → UK
'Safe workplaces mean safe care.
asserted
workplaces → mean → care
The Government must invest urgently to bring maternity buildings up to standard.
asserted
Government → invest → standard
We will not stop until every midwife can go to work without fearing for their health.'
asserted
midwife → stop → 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.
'
asserted
we → say → 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.'
asserted
we → learn → Hospital
A spokesman for the trust said: 'We should have acted faster to address the issues and have apologised to staff.
asserted
We → say → staff
We've learnt lessons and improved oversight of monitoring medical gases across the maternity unit at Basildon Hospital.'
asserted
We → learn → Hospital
The Aporia
