Salford Royal are set to provide free pads and tampons to patients who need them as part of a new NHS scheme to be introduced in every NHS hospital between 2019-2020.

NHS England chief executive, Simon Stevens said: “It’s fundamental that we give patients the best experience possible during what can be a stressful time of their life, and by providing sanitary products the NHS can prevent unnecessary embarrassment and leave people to focus on their recovery.”

Period poverty has been an ongoing issue in the UK, with many campaigns such as the Free Periods movement being organised to tackle this.

 

A campaign conducted by the British Medical Association (BMA) pointed out that many hospitals provide shaving foam and razors to patients, however fail to provide essential sanitary products. Despite some hospitals offering free sanitary products, the decision has been made to extend this to every hospital in the UK.

Further research by the BMA found that two in five UK hospital trusts and health boards did not give sanitary products to those who needed them, or only provided them in emergencies. As well as this, 27 trusts had nowhere on site to purchase sanitary products.

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