Union wants period dignity
Free products for hospital visitors
Sanitary products will be available free of charge for hospital patients.
But NHS bosses have come under fire as campaigners said they should also be given to visitors and staff.
The demand came from the union Unite, which held Period Dignity events in Ayrshire hospitals in recent weeks, gathering hundreds of signatures in support of its campaign.
NHS bosses told North Ayrshire Council leader Joe Cullinane, the council’s representative on the health board, that sanitary products will be supplied to patients in local hospitals.
While the council leader admits that is “a step in the right direction”, he added: “Sanitary products should be as standard as having access to toilet paper.”
He said: “Periods are normal and therefore the provision of essential period products should be normal too.
“That patients in NHS hospitals were not guaranteed access to sanitary products was not good enough and I therefore welcome the confirmation from NHS Ayrshire and Arran that sanitary products will now be available for patient use in all local hospitals.
“I am backing the Unite branch in their campaign for period dignity to ensure sanitary products are available to all patients, visitors and NHS staff.”
The union’s branch secretary Jim McGinn said: “We have been overwhelmed by the response of colleagues across the job roles and professions who have signed our petition.
“We have submitted a letter to the chief executive of NHS Ayrshire and Arran, calling for him to listen to his employees, including many Unite colleagues, urging him to do the right thing.
“This is an ideal opportunity to send out the message that our NHS is a caring, safe and respectful organisation.”
The health board said it will provide free products for patients but visitors and staff would have to use vending machines or the hospital shop.
Professor Hazel Borland, nurse director, said: “Access to free sanitary products in hospitals supports equality, dignity and rights for those who menstruate.
“Sanitary products should be provided for those who need them when they need them and that is a fundamental aspect of their care.
“We provide free sanitary products for patients in our hospitals and aim to ensure that appropriate stocks of sanitary products are held either on the wards or close by and are available to patients when required.
“Patients are not expected to take their own supplies into hospital or buy supplies from hospital shops.
“Sanitary products are available in our hospital shops and vending machines are available in some of our toilets for visitors and staff.”
We provide free sanitary products for patients