Celebrating other projects, initiatives and campaigns
Showcasing others’ work toward period parity for healthcare workers
Read on to discover further ideas and a diversification in
approaching period parity and poverty within healthcare
Please note: I endeavour to share and celebrate all those I am aware of, and can find details regarding,
who are championing period parity for healthcare workers across the world. I am very conscious of my
limitations and the fallibility of my methods.
So please accept my apologies, my thanks and let me know of any initiatives not featured!
UK based champions, projects and inspiration
Birmingham, England: Women’s and Children’s hospital Foundation Trust
In 2023, this Trust introduced boxes providing period products for staff in need throughout their sites,.
The initiative, called ‘we’re by your side. Period’ was, and is driven by the Trust’s staff Womens’ Network, whilst working closely with Facilities colleagues.
50 boxes are now in place, fixed to bathroom walls. These boxes are either half or full size depending on space and are available for all genders and gender fluid staff.
Features at the time of launch included:
Oswestry, England: Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic hospital
A pilot initiative was launched in 2022 and subsequently expanded hospital-wide. This was with the support of the period poverty charity ‘Hey Girls’ and the hospital League of Friends in order to provide hospital staff with environmentally-friendly, freely accessible period products.
More information can be found here:
Doncaster and Bassetlaw teaching hospitals Foundation Trust
In Autumn 2023, Doncaster and Bassetlaw teaching hospitals rolled out a staff period provision pilot with a few to consideration of expansion across the Trust.
The Trust also provide staff cervical smear clinics and are working towards their Menopause Friendly Accreditation.
More information can be accessed here.
UK-wide: Hey Girls healthcare arm
Hey Girls is a UK-wide period poverty charity who, in 2022, works with healthcare workers to establish, sponsor and support sustainable period product provision and vending machine initiatives/SOS-like boxes within healthcare settings: an important step whilst organisational adoption and operation remains very limited. More than 30 Health Boards/Trusts have been involved.
More information can be found here.
UK-wide, Wales focus: Bloody Good Period
The UK-wide period poverty charity Bloody Good Period autonomously approached and supported the SOS box project during Spring 2020, donating significant amounts of period products to the cause. This helped enable all intensive care units, emergency departments, some Covid wards and the Dragons Heart field hospital to receive fully stocked SOS boxes to meet the needs of their hardworking staff during the pandemic.
Notably, since then, Bloody Good Period has created a BGP employers programme, consisting of a multi-pronged approach of organisational policy review, culture and communication change standards, education access and free period products for employees in need. This can then lead to BGP employer certified status.
NHS Barnet, Enfield and Haringey are enrolled in the programme.
You can find out more here
Freda: Wales focused SOS box enablement
Period product company producing and selling organic, biodegradable period products autonomously approached and donated notable amounts of their period products to the SOS box initiative during Spring 2020.
This helped enabled SOS boxes to be sent out to every single intensive care unit, emergency department. many Covid wards and the Dragons’ Heart field hospital.
These boxes provided a freely accessible source of period products for healthcare workers from across roles during one of, if not the most challenging professional-personal time for the healthcare community in recent history.
Glasgow, Scotland: #project period
In 2021, a small group of resident doctors/postgraduate doctors in training began introduction of a period provision project within a hospital department, then expanding across the major hospital sites.
The project employed a quality improvement methodology and importantly demonstrated notable positive impact. Information regarding the source of the period products, any funding and method of maintaining was not outlined.
More information can be found within their peer reviewed publication and in the ‘the need’ section of this website.
BMA Scotland: #BMAperiods
In November, during the debate/passing into Scotland’s legislature of the ‘Period Products (Free Provision)’ law, requiring organisations that provide public services or serve public interest to provide freely accessible period products, and alongside Scottish junior/resident doctor committee chair Dr Lewis Hughes highlighting the SOS box evidence base, BMA Scotland began a project exploring impact of the new law and introduction of period products in hospitals across Scotland. This consisted of:
Freedom of information requests regarding provision of period products for healthcare worker employees by NHS organisations
BMA member based survey (for those with periods/menstruating and those without/who did not) regarding experience of periods at work, access to period products and opinions regarding the provision.
They also launched a social media-based campaign and featured the topic on their BMA Scotland podcast
Dr Rosie Baruah, BMA Scotland consultants committee member during this time worked with BMA Scotland on this, alongside personally campaigning to raise awareness via social media and wider media presence.
You can find out more below:
BMA Scotland: the next steps
BMA Scotland: BMA periods provision update
Scottish Parliament: votes and motions
MSP Monica Lennon: Health Boards urged to make free period products available to all staff
Scotland and beyond: Dr Rosie Baruah
Dr Rosie Baruah also worked with medical students supervising their Student Selected Component (SSC) involving conducting a survey of healthcare workers within anaesthetics and intensive care medicine in Scotland regarding periods/menstruating at work and period product access.
Headline results were shared via social media at the time.
Via the BBC
Via the British Medical Associations’ ‘the Doctor’ magazine
Alongside Anaesthetists Dr Critchley and Schwartz, Dr Baruah and colleagues included the challenges of workplace periods in their peer reviewed article on ‘The female workforice’ in 2021.
Unsung champions and projects
Since the SOS box initiative launch and sharing of the concept from 2018 onwards, It has been notable that there have been local, de novo development of SOS-box like/period product provision boxes in localities across the UK.
Whilst the organisers of these local schemes are not known to the SOS box initiative at this time, this space has been created to acknowledge and celebrate them, whilst hoping they can connect with the SOS box initiative and the network in the near future.
Some champions who have established their own SOS box-like period product provision initiatives are celebrated below, even if their social media accounts and thus identities have been deleted since. However, this is very definitely not an exhaustive list.
International champions and inspiration
Malta: Dr Azzopardi and Dr Sammut
From 2021, two Maltese resident doctors/postgraduate doctors in training, Dr Katya Azzopardi, working within Malta’s healthcare system and Dr Jonathon Sammut, then undertaking foundation programme training in Wales led lobbying of Maltese hospital-based healthcare leaders regarding organisation-based adoption of SOS-like boxes.
This was supported by the SOS box project, sending out a launch kit, data gathered from implementation, surveys of need and impact research, literature and policy reviews alongside discussions and meetings.
Contact us
The SOS box initiative is keen to know of and highlight further period parity/poverty
projects, initiatives or campaigns within healthcare (worldwide) - please reach out below