Free tampons made available by care home group to all female staff

Free tampons and sanitary towels will be given to all female staff working in care homes run by Renaissance Care, to stop them being “caught off guard” when they are busy working day or night.

Renaissance Care, which runs 16 care homes in Scotland and has over 1,200 staff, is providing free sanitary products in all staff toilets for its workforce.

“Sanitary items are not a luxury; they are a necessity and should be treated as such by employers" said Corinne Morrison-Gillies, who is responsible for interim people services at Renaissance Care

"The nature of our job in the care sector means our staff do not have regular working patterns therefore can easily be caught off guard by their menstrual cycle, adding undue pressure to what can be a challenging job.

“Our staff work incredibly hard, and the last thing they should have to worry about is having access to, what we consider, bare essentials.

"By having free period products available in all our care homes we hope to remove barriers and create an open and safe working environment for our employees.”

The new initiative is part of the care home group’s efforts to create 'a safe and happy working environment'.

The step follows calls from the British Medical Association for sanitary products to be made available to all healthcare staff in Scotland - including across all staff toilets as well as patients.

A spokesperson for the medical union told carehome.co.uk that it is not a matter of 'period poverty' for doctors but a 'period dignity' in work, to provide period products to boost the wellbeing and comfort of NHS staff.

click here for more details or to contact Renaissance Care