Send flowers to St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst

St Vincent's Hospital Sydney is the public teaching hospital at 390 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, on the ridge between Kings Cross and Oxford Street. Five Irish Sisters of Charity opened it at Tarmons in 1857, and it has a long record of firsts: Australia's first heart transplant in 1968, the country's first dedicated emergency department in 1983, its first needle exchange in 1986 and the world's first transplant of a heart that had stopped beating in 2014. It is the adult major trauma centre for inner Sydney and belongs to St Vincent's Health Australia. A florist in the inner east makes up your flowers and delivers them by hand; we never promise a delivery time to a hospital, but a weekday morning order usually arrives that afternoon.

Visiting hours and where the bouquet goes

The hospital publishes visiting hours of 10am to 8pm daily, with 2pm to 8pm on the Sacred Heart rehabilitation ward. Florists deliver during the day and hand the flowers to the ward clerk or reception, who takes them to the bed. Write the patient's full name as admitted, the ward name and a bed or room number if you know it. St Vincent's Private Hospital Sydney stands on the same campus, and the Melbourne St Vincent's hospitals share the name, so check which hospital the patient is in before you order.

Wards where flowers are not allowed

St Vincent's Sydney does not publish a flower policy on its visiting pages, so ring the ward. Given the kind of hospital it is, the general Australian exceptions matter more than usual: no fresh flowers in intensive care, coronary care or the heart and lung transplant unit, none in haematology or for patients on chemotherapy, and no flowers for anyone in isolation. General surgical, orthopaedic, medical and rehabilitation wards normally accept a small arrangement, more easily in a single room than a shared bay. If the ward says no, the home in Paddington, Surry Hills, Potts Point or Bondi Junction is close by and the flowers will be enjoyed longer there.

What suits a Darlinghurst ward

A compact bouquet with its own water reservoir or a posy in a jar fits a narrow locker and needs no vase. Gerberas, roses, alstroemeria, ranunculus and Australian natives such as waxflower and kangaroo paw keep a week in air-conditioning and carry little scent. Lilies, hyacinths and heavily perfumed roses are too much for a shared room, and potted plants with soil are refused by many wards. For a long rehabilitation stay on Sacred Heart, two modest bouquets a fortnight apart beat one large one.

Cut-off in Sydney time

Same-day delivery is available Monday to Saturday for orders placed before 2pm on a weekday or 10am on a Saturday, Sydney time, though to a hospital same day is never guaranteed, and there is no Sunday delivery. Sydney keeps daylight saving, so from October to April the cut-off is 1pm in Brisbane and 11am in Perth. Add your mobile number so the florist can call if the patient has moved or been discharged; a redirected bouquet costs a second delivery fee.

A card that reads well from a bed

A line or two in plain words: "Glad you are through it, Uncle Joe. Rest up, we will visit Saturday. Love from the Newcastle crew." Bouquets start at AUD 75 and the delivery fee is shown at checkout before you confirm.

Did you know? St Vincent's Hospital Sydney was founded by the Sisters of Charity in 1857 and performed Australia's first heart transplant in 1968.