People who work on busy hospital wards - please help me to find an appropriate gift for an amazing team.

[WrenNatsworthy]

A week today I was discharged from our local hospital, which is often moaned about.
The ward is called High Needs and Short Stay, and I was there for a week. I was really very ill, and every single staff member on that ward was beyond kind.
It was always my intention to go back with a thank you card and gifts. It's a really busy ward so I don't want to buy crap that will just get in the way, so I was hoping that someone who works in a hospital can give me an idea about what is most appreciated.
I was thinking a selection of different types of posh teabags / coffee and chocolates and biscuits to go with them. Does that sound good, or are there better ideas?

Another nurse here to say pens 😁 I work in neonates so we get ALOT of gifts. Usually cakes/sweets/chocolates. Sometimes we get savoury, someone will bring in a huge box of samosas etc and they always go down well! Agree with splitting in half and saying save for the night team :) glad you had such good care

When my wife was in a high dependancy ward over Christmas 2022, I took in loads of pens when I visited. It started as a small joke after one of the nurses tried four pens before finding one that worked.

After my wife was discharged I went back up and took a load of Costa gift cards. Hospital has a Costa on a lower floor.

They were well received.

Pens , and delicious treats . Yes to nice tea bags , hot chocolate sachets , nice biscuits

Handwritten cards are often the most appreciated. We love it if fruit hampers are given as it's a nice change from the default of chocs but anything will be really appreciated

definitely write a review on their website somehow

We had a gift recently a basket full of pens, torches, hand cream, chocolates candles, tea and biscuits. It was greatly appreciated

Also please write cards and include names if you can remember. Nurses need feedback from patients for revalidation but it’s really hard to ask patients and families to write any feedback.

We've been given a voucher for a Costa coffee, M&S biscuits, cupcakes, chocolates. All go down well.

If you want some pointers on what chocolates to choose, the BMJ has you covered.

https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f7198

A pack of black pens. And some posh tea and coffee. We always appreciate fruit rather than chocolates. Also if you name specific staff in a card, that is always really appreciated. As it can be used for revalidation.

And send an email to the chief executive!

During the 3 weeks I was in last year (pneumonia with pleurisy on top) I was in 3 different wards. Dh later took in cards and big tins of M&S chocolate biscuits - we didn’t think of hand cream.
I also made a donation to the hospital charity, to thank them for the excellent care I received.

When I worked in a hospital we had a bunch of graze snacks delivered, the individual boxes that included dried fruit/seeds/flapjacks etc. they went down well. Loads of supermarkets do similar now and it made such a change from chocolate and was better portioned. Individually wrapped biscuits are nice too (you can get borders etc on Amazon). Hot chocolate, instant latte, iced tea type drinks can make a nice change.

I have mixed feelings on pens etc. the NHS should just provide them! But I know inevitably they are always missing. If I was going down that route I'd add in tea spoons which seem even scarcer than pens

And personal cups ,everybody is protective of their own cup
Tbh regarding pens though on one ward I worked on the ward Clark regularly put out a box of black pens and a box of red pens
You could guarantee within a few days there would just be a couple of red pens left .

Food, food and more food. Something easy to eat whilst walking and not sticky 🤣

My dad was on ICU for several weeks many years ago. We got to know the staff quite well over time. We learned that the staff rarely got hot food as the canteen kept quite short hours. So we bought a microwave for the staff workroom. My mum checked with the sister first. It seemed a longer lasting thank you than biscuits or chocolates.