Hospitals' laughing gas pipelines to be replaced

Nitrous oxide is a powerful anaesthetic used in hospitals

NHS Grampian is to stop using pipelines to supply an anaesthetic in its hospitals due to the risk the gas leaks pose to the environment.

The health board said nitrous oxide - also known as laughing gas - would continue to be used as pain relief for women during childbirth.

But it is to decommission its hospitals' internal pipelines by the end of this month, and instead provide operating theatres with the anaesthetic in canisters.

NHS Grampian said nitrous oxide was a greenhouse gas estimated to be 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and there was a risk of it leaking from pipelines and storage areas.