Hat, 26, said they had to wear the same pad for days or put tissue in their pants after staff refused items for "safety reasons".The NHS said it: "expects all hospitals to give patients access to the essentials of daily life."
Hat has now created guidelines, which are being endorsed by several mental health and period charities and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. While conducting their report, Hat said the consistency of patients' experiences was "striking" and the main findings were that patients were not supported while on their period.
Responding to the research, she added: "I really hope this will just help to meet the basic needs of women and people who menstruate, who also need psychiatric healthcare.These can include limited access to certain items, restrictions on patients leaving wards and lists of what visitors can bring in.Many of the people Hat spoke to found this wasn't the case.
"I'd have two or three people watching me changing and even though I know it's for my own safety, it's dehumanising," she said.She recalled one time on a ward where she asked for sanitary products and was taken by two female staff members to her bed area and was told she had to "prove" she was on her period.
Sophina took part in Hat's research and was also part of a focus group to develop guidelines for hospitals, which she hopes will highlight the issue patients are facing.Shortly after, the NHS in Wales announced the same, with Scotland and Northern Ireland also doing this from 2022.
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