Flowers to a patient at The Melbourne Clinic in Richmond

The Melbourne Clinic is a private psychiatric hospital at 130 Church Street, Richmond VIC 3121, run by Healthscope, and sending flowers there is a slightly different exercise from sending them to a surgical ward. Patients are admitted for depression, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction and other mental health conditions, often for two or three weeks, and a bouquet from home is one of the few things that can be brought into that stretch of time. Florists in Richmond and Cremorne deliver to the clinic regularly, but every unit has its own rules, and the first step is a phone call to reception on 03 9429 4688.

Why mental health units handle flowers differently

On a general ward the question is infection; on a psychiatric unit it is safety. Glass vases, ceramic pots, wire, florist's scissors and long hard stems may not be allowed on some units, and staff will check anything delivered before it reaches the patient. That does not mean no flowers. It means asking the unit what form they accept. In most cases the answer is a hand-tied bouquet with no vase, or an arrangement in a soft plastic container with floral foam, both of which our florists prepare on request. Write "mental health unit, no glass" in the florist note and the florist adapts the design and the wrapping.

Reception hours and how the delivery works

The clinic's reception operates seven days a week from 7am to 8.30pm, which is the window within which a florist can hand over a bouquet. Visiting hours for patients are set by each unit and are not published centrally, so ask when you ring. Give the patient's full name and the unit or program they are in; the clinic will not confirm to a florist that someone is a patient, so the information has to come from you or the family. Some patients ask that their admission stays private, and if that is the case a bouquet announcing itself at reception may not be welcome at all. When in doubt, ask the patient or a close relative first.

What to write on the card

Keep it simple and free of advice. "Thinking of you every day, see you soon" does more good than anything that mentions getting better quickly, and avoid jokes about the hospital. Sign it clearly, because cards are sometimes separated from bouquets when staff check a delivery. If the patient is in a day program rather than an inpatient unit, they go home each afternoon, and flowers belong at the house.

Richmond, Prahran and the rest of Healthscope's mental health hospitals

People searching for flowers to The Victoria Clinic in Prahran, or to other private mental health hospitals in Melbourne, run into the same rules: ring the unit, no glass, plain card. Richmond itself is an easy delivery suburb, a few minutes from the CBD, with Church Street running between Bridge Road and Swan Street; Epworth Richmond on Bridge Road is a different hospital, so write The Melbourne Clinic in full.

Prices and timing for Melbourne

Order before 2pm on a weekday or 10am on a Saturday, Melbourne time, for same-day delivery Monday to Saturday. To a hospital, same day is never guaranteed, and at a psychiatric hospital the unit may hold a delivery until a nurse has checked it. Hand-tied bouquets start at around AUD 75, with the delivery fee shown at checkout. Low-scent, long-lasting stems such as alstroemeria, gerberas and chrysanthemums suit a three-week stay better than anything that wilts by day four.

Did you know? Melbourne Clinic is a hospital in Melbourne, Victoria.