The days of taking a bunch of flowers to a loved one in hospital all but ended this week, after the health service revealed it would only allow flowers in the hospital’s women’s and infants’ (formerly maternity) and rehabilitation units.

The hospital’s management said the restrictions were to prevent infections from entering the hospital on bunches of flowers and to protect bedside computers from water spills.

But the hospital failed to notify any of Orange’s florists of the changes, leaving the owners of Bradley’s, Jenisa and Classic Country Rose florists to learn of the regulations through the Central Western Daily.

The angry florists said the decision had already started to hurt their trade because they had been forced to refuse deliveries to the new hospital.

“We’ve actually had to reject a couple of orders just in the last few days,” Jenisa Florist owner Tony Hazell said.

“There are some days where you might only do hospital work.

“They’re taking our trade away, basically, but the part that’s more upsetting is that they didn’t notify us.”

The only communication the florists received was a letter informing them that deliveries to the women’s and infants’ unit would not be possible during the hospital’s first few days of operation.

The florists are still waiting for formal notification of the ban in other units, which a spokeswoman for the Western NSW Local Health Network said would be sent to them next week.

“It’s offensive that they’re saying we would bring germ-infected things into the hospital,” Classic Country Rose owner Sheryl Lewis said.

“Some of these flowers have had to pass through customs and quarantine.

“And what about the big hospitals in Sydney that have a florist in the foyer?”

Bradley’s Florist owner Sally Wright said visitors to the hospital would not want to send the artificial gifts, such as silk flowers and balloons, that the hospital was encouraging.

She said most people preferred the tradition of fresh flowers.

“Flowers are basically to cheer people up, or to congratulate,” she said.

“We’ve got people who are yelling at us saying ‘this is ridiculous, we want to send flowers’.”

The Western NSW Local Health Network spokeswoman said some NSW hospitals, including Liverpool and Wollongong, already restricted flowers in certain areas.

“While the Health Service acknowledges the sentimental value of flowers for patients and visitors in hospital, this decision has been thoroughly considered by senior management and clinical staff, and will not be amended,” she said.

“Flowers in a clinical setting can harbour bacteria, which can contribute to the spread of infection.

“The new Orange Health Service is also bolstered by some of the most advanced medical technologies in the country to provide high quality care to all patients and allowing flowers can pose a threat to this vital equipment.”