Sending flowers to Bon Secours Hospital, Glasnevin

Bon Secours Hospital Dublin is a private acute-care hospital in Glasnevin, on the north side of the city. It is part of the not-for-profit Bon Secours Health System, which also runs hospitals in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Tralee. The hospital opened in 1951 to a design by Jim Barrett, on the site of Delville House, the early eighteenth-century home of Patrick Delany and Mary Delany. It has 170 beds for inpatient, surgical, medical and oncology day care, four major and three minor theatres, a cardiac catheter lab and an acute medical assessment unit, and it employs more than 600 staff alongside around 150 consultants. Most patients arrive for planned surgery or treatment, so a bouquet is often something that can be planned along with the stay.

A hospital on the site of a famous garden house

Patrick Delany and Mary Delany lived at Delville, and the hospital stands in a part of Dublin that has long been linked to plants. Glasnevin is also home to the National Botanic Gardens and Glasnevin Cemetery, and the neighbourhood sits on the River Tolka. If you are visiting and have a little time before or after, the Botanic Gardens are a short journey away, but do not bring cuttings or garden plants onto the wards. Flowers sent to a patient here follow the same careful path as any other hospital: they are welcome only where the ward agrees.

Phone the ward before you order

A private hospital can have its own rules for wards, day units, theatres and recovery areas, and a patient having surgery may move between several rooms in one day. Call the hospital, ask for the ward or unit, and ask whether flowers, plants or balloons are allowed in that area. Day case patients may be discharged within hours, so a bouquet sent to the ward could arrive after the patient has gone home. Give the patient's full name, the ward and, if you know it, the room number, and write them clearly in the delivery notes. If you do not have a number for the ward, ask the patient or a close relative to confirm it.

Timing flowers around surgery

If your friend or relative is having a planned operation, ask when they are due to go home rather than guessing. For a planned overnight stay the best option can be a bouquet delivered to the home address for the day after discharge. For a longer stay, such as cancer treatment, ask the family whether flowers are welcome in the room. Some patients dislike strong scents during treatment, so unscented or lightly scented stems such as roses, tulips, gerberas and spray chrysanthemums are a safer choice than lilies or hyacinths.

What to write on the card

Hospital cards are best short. Say who the flowers are from, mention a memory or a plan for after the stay, and avoid asking the patient to reply. If you are sending flowers to a hospital address, include the hospital name and Glasnevin, the ward and the patient's full name. A florist cannot guess a ward, so a missing detail can mean the flowers are returned.

Other ideas

If flowers are not accepted on a ward, a card, a book, a magazine or a soft throw for the journey home can say the same thing. You can also send a bouquet to a relative who is caring for the patient, or to the patient's home to be there on their return. The hospital's own services and shops change, so ask on arrival what is available.

After the stay

Recovery at home can last weeks, and the first days are often when a patient feels most alone. A hand-tied bunch of seasonal flowers, delivered on a date you choose, is a cheerful reminder that people are thinking of them. A second bunch a couple of weeks later, once the first has faded and the visitors have thinned, is often the most appreciated of all.

Did you know? Bon Secours Hospital Dublin was the first hospital in Ireland to receive Joint Commission International accreditation, in 2002.