VPRS 17926 Annual and Quinquennial Examination of Patients Register

This series consists of a register which recorded annual and quinquennial examinations of patients at Beechworth Hospital for the Insane (1922-1934) and Mayday Hills Mental Hospital (1922-1957) (VA 2842).The registers record the following:- name of patient- date of admission/reception- date/s of annual/quinquennial examinations- date of last (previous) examinationSection 17 of the Lunacy Amendment Act 1888 required that each patient in every asylum, philanthropic hospital and cottage for the reception of patients and every boarded-out patient was to be examined annually by a medical practitioner appointed by the Governor-in-Council in order to determine their sanity or insanity and to inquire into their general health. This was to occur at least once in every twelve consecutive months of the detention or supervision of the patient. Under a provision of the 1888 Act, the medical practitioner was not to be an employee of any of the asylums. This provision was a direct result of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Insane and Inebriate 1882-1884 (Zox Commission). Many witnesses before the Commission had alleged that patients were unnecessarily detained in the asylums.The legislation requiring an annual examination of patients was amended by section 88 of the Lunacy Act 1903. From 1905 patients were to be examined once every twelve months for their first three years in residence and subsequently once every five years by the Superintendent of the asylum or in the case of a licensed house, by the Government Medical Officer. A report was then to be made to the Inspector-General of the Lunacy Department who in turn reported to the Chief Secretary (from 1950, reports were sent to the Chief Medical Officer of the Mental Hygiene Branch).