MIDWIVES at Basildon Hospital who were overexposed to a pain relief drug will undergo tests to check for any impacts on their health, but staff have insisted this should have taken place “months ago”.

Staff who work in the midwifery department at Basildon Hospital are being offered blood tests to check their B12 levels following a probe into high levels of nitrous oxide.

Entonox – which is used as pain relief for pregnant mums – was reinstated at the weekend after being unavailable since December 1.

Papers from a hospital board meeting on November 17 said: “An external investigation has been commissioned by one of the trust non-executive directors, Alan Tobias.

“Staff have been offered blood tests to check for B12 deficiency, and ongoing support to staff is via occupational health and helplines.”

However, angry midwives say they are far from reassured.

One student midwife, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “I am very worried about this and a big concern is we don’t know the impact of this on us.

“Everyone is very worried and we don’t have the answers about the effect of this on us. The testing for the staff should have been done before now and it’s a long process.

It takes a while to get an appointment and then a long time to get the results too.

“Some staff are going to their doctors to get their own tests done.

“It’s something we are all talking about all the time and I don’t think the tests make much difference really.”

It comes after the Echo revealed on Monday that hospital bosses failed to warn staff or tackle high levels of nitrous oxide on Basildon Hospital’s maternity ward for more than 18 months.

NHS workers have accused the trust of a “cover-up” after the shocking scale of the issue was revealed.

A business case to improve the ventilation in the clinical area was approved in the autumn of 2021.

However, the required equipment was not ordered until April 2022.

A spokesperson for Mid and South Essex NHS Trust said: “We are aware that there was an issue with levels of nitrous oxide the gas used for pain relief during labour in the air at our maternity unit at Basildon Hospital. It is perfectly safe for service users and their families to continue to use the maternity unit as normal.

“We have taken immediate action to resolve the situation and an investigation is underway