Send flowers to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch

Fiona Stanley Hospital is Western Australia's biggest public hospital, with 783 beds on a 150,000 square metre site at 11 Robin Warren Drive, Murdoch WA 6150, about 15 km south of the Perth CBD beside Murdoch University and Murdoch railway station. It is run by the South Metropolitan Health Service as part of the Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group and opened in stages between October 2014 and March 2015. Most rooms are single with their own bathroom, which is good news for anyone sending flowers: there is usually a shelf and no neighbour with hay fever. A Perth florist close to Murdoch makes the bouquet and delivers it to the hospital for us.

Which wards at FSH take flowers

The hospital does not publish a single flower rule, so the decision sits with each ward. As a general guide, which applies to most Australian hospitals, flowers and plants are kept out of intensive care, the heart and lung transplant unit, haematology and the burns and high-dependency areas, where infection control and equipment leave no room for a vase. General surgical, orthopaedic, rehabilitation and maternity wards usually allow a modest bouquet. The hospital asks visitors to phone its Helpdesk on (08) 6152 2222 to check conditions on a particular ward, and the same call answers the flower question before you order. One rule that is published and firm: latex balloons are not permitted anywhere on the hospital site, so leave balloons out of the order.

Visiting hours and when the florist comes

Visiting hours are 8am to 8pm on most wards, with a few exceptions such as Ward 7D, where visits run 10am to 8pm with limits on numbers. Our florists deliver during business hours, hand the bouquet to the ward reception or the main reception, and staff take it to the bed. If the patient is in the Medihotel at 5 Bedbrook Row, say so on the order, because it is a separate building reached through the Aegis Health foyer.

What to put on the order

Write the patient's full name as it appears on their admission, the ward or unit name, and the bed or room number if you know it. Add a mobile number for the recipient's next of kin, because a short stay often ends before the courier arrives. If discharge is expected within a day or two, send the flowers to the home address in Murdoch, Bull Creek, Leeming or wherever they live instead; the welcome-home bouquet is the one that gets enjoyed.

Choosing a bouquet for a Murdoch ward

Keep it compact and low on scent. Gerberas, tulips, roses with the pollen heads removed, alstroemeria and Western Australian natives such as kangaroo paw and waxflower travel well in the Perth heat and sit happily on a bedside shelf. Ask for the arrangement in a box or a container with its own water so the nurses do not have to find a vase. Avoid oriental lilies, hyacinths and anything potted in soil.

Cut-off times from the eastern states

Same-day delivery runs Monday to Saturday when the order is placed before 2pm on a weekday or 10am on a Saturday, Perth time. Perth does not use daylight saving, so from October to April the 2pm Perth cut-off is 5pm in Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart and 4pm in Brisbane; for the rest of the year it is 4pm in the east. To a hospital, same day is never guaranteed, because the ward decides whether and when flowers go in. Bouquets start at about AUD 75 and the delivery fee is shown at checkout.

Did you know? Fiona Stanley Hospital opened in stages between October 2014 and March 2015 and has 783 beds, making it Western Australia's largest hospital.