Dunedin Hospital staff will be delivering some holiday cheer to patients this Christmas as part of a long-standing tradition.

The annual "Richmond Shilling" gift has been distributed to patients at the hospital every Christmas for more than 140 years.

Originally containing a shilling, these days the gift amounts to $10.

Health New Zealand Southern planned care district manager Nigel Copson says the tradition links back to former Dunedin publican James Richmond, who died in 1881.

Richmond directed that income from part of his estate be gifted to hospital patients, and his legacy has lived on ever since.

The original intention was to give patients enough money to buy a glass of beer.

“It’s a really enjoyable part of my role to be able to do something that brings a smile to people’s faces on Christmas,” Copson says.

“Most people have not heard of this tradition, so it comes as a real surprise when we explain the history of the shilling to them.

“Nowadays people use the money for all sorts of things. We usually suggest a coffee and a muffin, rather than a beer.”

The donations are made possible through the Healthcare Otago Charitable Trust.

It was the job of senior managers to check how many patients would be in the hospital on Christmas Day, and to hand out the envelopes with cash.

Copson had been involved in this for the past few years and would be among staff doing it again this year.

There were typically around 200-250 patients in the hospital each Christmas.