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Call for calm from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn after nitrous oxide spike




Hospital staff have assured patients that there are no risks being posed to woman and babies after its ‘laughing gas’ levels were found to be too high.

Towards the end of last year, samples taken at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital found that the amount of nitrous oxide being delivered in some cases was above recommended limits.

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, can lead to unconsciousness or suffocation from a lack of oxygen when taken to excess.

A nitrous oxide spike at the QEH posed no risk to mothers and babies, according to staff
A nitrous oxide spike at the QEH posed no risk to mothers and babies, according to staff

However, health bosses at the hospital insist no patients were ever in any danger.

Helen Blanchard, interim chief nurse at the QEH Trust, said: “In December 2022 our routine testing has showed that some samples were above the accepted levels of nitrous oxide given in national guidance.

“The QEH were able to work with our staff to limit usage of gas and air in specific rooms, dealt with on a case by case basis, whilst we improved ventilation systems.

“At no point did we suspend the use of gas and air and we have no plans to do so in the future.

“We have worked with our teams to ensure that the ventilation and extraction systems used in our maternity suites are working effectively, and there is no risk to those giving birth or their birthing partners and babies.

“We have a testing programme in place to ensure that we quickly identify such issues in future.”

Meanwhile, a new report from NHS Providers has highlighted “years of prolonged underinvestment in estates and facilities across the NHS”.

In the report, the QEH is all but named as one of seven UK hospitals at “a critical level of risk” due to its use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) planks for flat roof construction from the 1960s until the 1980s.

The Lynn facility also remains the most propped-up in the country.

Paul Brooks, director of estates and facilities at the QEH, said: “We continue our rolling RAAC programme of installing steel and timber support props across the hospital to maximise the safety of our buildings for our patients and staff.

“We are working with the national New Hospital Programme team who are supporting us to find a long term solution.”

At the New Hospital Programme’s industry day on December 13, Lord Markham CBE - the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - reiterated “the need to integrate RAAC hospitals into the New Hospitals Programme”.

He also said that a decision was expected in early 2023 when the timetable for the programme would be set out.

Last year, campaigners were repeatedly told an announcement on the QEH’s future would be made by the end of December.

Speaking to the Lynn News last Friday, South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss pushed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to make a decision on the hospital’s future during his Spring Budget statement this month.

The former Prime Minister said: “I was hearing that there could be an announcement late last year, and then that didn’t happen.

“I think people are getting worried about it, so I urge the Chancellor to confirm it as soon as possible to give people the reassurance that the hospital is going to be sorted out.

“You can just see from walking around it that it doesn’t work.”



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