Hospitals will be ordered to supply free tampons and sanitary towels to patients, following a campaign by doctors.

Medics had said it was unfair that some hospitals would provide men with razors and shaving foam but not offer women sanitary products.

It follows research showing that four in ten NHS trusts did not provide the products to those in need, or would only provide limited emergency supplies.

The British Medical Association (BMA) wrote to health officials a month ago, urging them to change the policy.

They said towels and tampons are a basic human need – like food – and should be made freely available at all hospitals in the UK.

Some patients cannot afford to buy their own products, while others unexpectedly find themselves in hospital with nobody to rely on, campaigners said.

Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS will announce that from July, hospitals will be obliged to provide women with sanitary products.

Freedom of Information disclosures from 187 NHS trusts and health boards found that 42 per cent of them did not supply sanitary products at all, or would only provide them in an emergency, or in small amounts.

For those that did have a supply, tampons and towels were often only available on gynaecology or maternity wards.