Presents for hospital ward

[CoffeeandChocolateplease]

My lovely lovely Mum died on Thursday after a cardiac arrest. The nurses on the intensive care ward were just so lovely, and took such good care of her. They were respectful and kind, and answered all the many hundreds of questions we had. Although I know it is their job, I really feel that they went above and beyond.

I would like to send a card and a present but I am unsure a) if they are allowed to accept a present and b) what to send. I have tried the hospital's website (Southampton General) to see if there is a policy but no luck.

As to a present, I thought of a Costa gift card as there is a 24-hour Costa in the hospital. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Costa gift cards are a good idea, absolutely. Also nice snacks (posh biscuits, cakes, chocolates etc although not ideal if they're on a diet).

When my mum was in the hospice they were amazing - after she died I sent them a piece of artwork I'd made for her that was relevant to the setting I suppose, and they really appreciated it. But I sent the individual nurses and doctors cards and made them cakes.

I took a gift bag in and it was appreciated
I put in
Sweets/choc/cakes
Those squeeze cordial things
Tea/coffee/hot chocolate
Hand cream (big bottle!)
And a card too so there was something "physical" for them to put on file

There's no issue with giving gifts to the ward for the benefit of all the staff. Staff would probably be uncomfortable with individual gifts although if low value it's unlikely to be a real issue. So bunch of flowers to particular nurse, a mug, a pen probably ok. A watch, a posh handbag, a small horse not ok
A gift card they can share is a good idea. Some nice drinks in individual cans - might be nice too.

You can’t always use the Costa gift card in hospital Costas just as a heads up-made that mistake when a friend was in hospital!

My condolences on your loss xx

Thanks for your ideas - I didn't know that about the cards IHope, I will try and find out some more.

I was also considering a nice hamper of goodies - can they deliver these to the ward I wonder? ICU might be a bit different to other wards. Probably not going for a small horse NorthernLurker!

Thank you all.

Nurses love chocolates and biscuits, you probably won't want fresh foods as it's a area where they have to be careful about cross infection.

Things like teabags, instant coffee, biscuits are great. They also really appreciate hand creams and such, too. It used to be that boxes of packs of tights were the really exciting gifts, but with the uniform change, that is no longer necessary. A lovely card saying thanks to them all is always appreciated, too.

I used to work in a care home and one lady brought in a big box of treats for our staff room - it was lovely to have a choice of nice teas and coffees, especially the instant type ones in all flavours. And biscuits etc. It's nice to feel appreciated, and makes your short breaks a bit more enjoyable. I'd say make up a nice hamper basket.

I know that hospital. They don't accept gift cards in the Costa I'm afraid.
On my ward we get tea bags, coffee, fruit baskets, chocolate, biscuits, cakes, squash all very gratefully received!
Even with ICU the staff will still have a staff room so food shouldn't be a problem.
I'm sorry for your loss

Thank you for confirming about the card. I'll give it a good think and use some of these ideas. Thanks again.