Safety tests have been carried out at Stevenage's Lister Hospital after reports that some NHS trusts have suspended the use of Entonox over concerns about how levels of waste gas might affect staff and service users.

Entonox, known more commonly as gas and air, is a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen, and is used as pain relief for women in labour.

A spokesperson for the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, which runs Lister, said: "In order to ease any concerns our service users may have, we have conducted tests to monitor the Entonox levels within our services at The Diamond Jubilee Lister Maternity Unit, and within our emergency department, including resus areas and paediatrics.

READ MORE 

"We are pleased to share the positive findings of our recent report into safe Entonox levels within our services.

"Our trust’s ventilation systems, as well as all Entonox outlets, have been rigorously tested and found to be safe.

"The monitored levels are significantly lower than the Workplace Exposure Limit of 100ppm. The highest recorded reading for an eight-hour time-weighted average working period was just 0.81ppm.

"We take the safety of our staff and patients very seriously, and we will continue to monitor these levels."