Calls for period products to be freely available in NSW hospital

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Women in public hospitals say there are still too many times when they're not being given access to period products. That runs counter to a New South Wales health memo mandating their availability. Now researchers have outlined a plan that would make products available to every woman in every public hospital.

Transcript

00:00For three years now, the directive has been clear.

00:06Period products must be made available to hospital patients, but it's not always being

00:10followed.

00:11I've asked for a period product, I've been given like an incontinence aid.

00:16They're not fit for purpose and they don't even really absorb.

00:21Samantha Bruce is leading the campaign to change that.

00:24I found that this issue was not just happening to me but other women.

00:29She wants pads, tampons and underwear to be made available via a dispenser system in

00:33every public hospital.

00:35Modelling by the Australia Institute puts the projected annual cost at $7 million.

00:40This is a really obvious problem with a really obvious solution and it's a solution that's

00:45incredibly cheap.

00:46A 2024 survey found that 13% of NSW women weren't able to access pads or tampons in hospital.

00:54Access to underwear is a problem too.

00:56Dr Karen Williams says her client soiled her pants during an asthma attack and was left

01:01semi-naked in a public ward.

01:03I actually called the hospital up and said, can you please give us some pants or some underwear

01:07and they said, we just don't have any, you know, we're not able to do that.

01:12And in the end they gave her a nappy.

01:14The proposal has been endorsed by local women's services and by the Royal Australian New Zealand

01:19College of Psychiatrists who say a lack of access to appropriate period products can cause

01:25distress and indignity for patients.

01:27I can't give an answer around whether we will roll that out at the moment.

01:31What I can say is that there's an expectation from me that these products should be available

01:35to women.

01:36The government has the funding to do so and if they don't, they don't value women's dignity

01:42like they should.

01:43Pushing for progress.

01:44Pushing for progress.

01:56Pushing for progress.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended