AN NHS trust has launched a new initiative to combat period poverty for its staff across all of its sites.
The ‘We’re by your Side. Period’ campaign has free period product dispensers placed in various locations across Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (BWC) to help relieve stress for colleagues who are managing their period while at work.
So far, 50 dispensers with both tampons and pads have been installed and boxes of supplies have been placed in the trust’s community centres.
The project has been driven by the BWC Women’s Staff Network, which aims to provide an open forum for colleagues and looks at ways to improve their experience and confidence within the workplace.
With period poverty on the rise, more people struggling to afford products and an 82 per cent female workforce at the trust, the new initiative has been put in place to support colleagues and promote conversations about period health.
The trust says so far feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and it has led to more people coming forward to offer donations to help others, which are now being accepted in the trust’s designated staff Wellbeing Hubs.
This is the latest in a series of support BWC is offering to its colleagues.
Previously, the trust led the way in the NHS to offer additional help, which includes increased times of paid leave, for those who experience pregnancy loss or pre-term birth.
To help during the cost-of-living crisis, the trust also offers all employees a free breakfast, subsidised lunches in its restaurants, new Wellbeing Hubs as a place to rest and recharge and more.
Raffaela Goodby, chief people officer at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We want to support our colleagues as much as we can, to take away some worries and anxiety they may face, to ensure they can offer the very best to those they care for and support.
“This new initiative, which has been driven by our Women’s Network, is another example of how we’re trying to be by the side of our people as much as we can and shine a light on the stigmas and secrecy of periods, heavy bleeding and other issues that affect how our colleagues feel at work.
“We’re delighted by the initial feedback it has received from colleagues right across our trust.”
