VPRS 18140 Admission and Discharge Register of Patients

This series consists of registers outlining the admission and discharge of patients from Ararat Asylum, Ararat Hospital for the Insane and Aradale Mental Hospital (VA 2841). Immediately upon the admission of a person to an asylum, the clerk of the asylum was required to make an entry in the Register of Patients. Details recorded included: patient's name; date of admission; admission number; date of last previous admission; age; marital status; occupation; previous place of abode; religion and the form of mental disorder and state of physical health. From 1963 the registers no longer include dates of previous admissions or details of medical certificates, however they do indicate the type of admission such as V, R, A, J or S (see below). Further details were entered in the register on the death, transfer or discharge of a patient. Institutions were also required to maintain a separate Register of Discharges, Removals and Deaths, usually known as a Discharge Register. For these registers see VPRS 17873 Discharge Register of Patients. From at least 1845 and the proclamation of An Act for the Regulation of the Care and Treatment of Lunatics (8 & 9 Vic c.100), public asylums and licensed houses were required to maintain a Register of Patients. Initially the register maintained by licensed houses was officially known as the Book of Admissions. In some institutions the Register was also known as an Admissions Register or as an Admission and Discharge Register and these terms were sometimes stamped on the volumes. The format of the Register of Patients which was specified in a schedule to the Lunacy Statute and succeeding legislation, changed little until the proclamation of the Mental Health Act 1959 in 1962. The record then became officially known as the Register of Patients and Discharge Register and included information about the types of admission. The following five types of admission were specified under sections 41 to 49 of the Mental Health Act 1959: Voluntary Boarders (V) were those who entered the hospital at their own request or, if under the age of 16 at the request of a parent or guardian and on the opinion of a medical practitioner. Recommended (R) and Approved (A) Patients. A person could be admitted upon the recommendation set out in a prescribed form, of a medical practitioner who had examined the person. As soon as possible after admission the superintendent of the hospital was required to examine the patient and either approve the recommended admission or discharge the patient. Judicial Admissions (J). Upon information provided on oath before a justice that a mentally ill person was not receiving proper care, or could not support himself/herself or had committed an offence and after examination by two medical practitioners, an order could be made for the person to be admitted to or detained in a mental hospital. Security Patients (S) were those who had been detained in a gaol but were transferred to a mental hospital upon being determined to be mentally ill. The Register of Patients and Discharge Register officially superseded the separate Discharge Register, however some institutions continued to maintain a separate record of patient discharges, transfers and deaths.本系列档案涵盖亚拉拉特精神病院（Ararat Asylum）、亚拉拉特疯人院（Ararat Hospital for the Insane）及阿拉代尔精神病院（Aradale Mental Hospital）的患者入院与出院登记册（档案编号：VA 2841）。 患者入院后，精神病院文员需立即在《患者登记册》中完成信息录入。登记内容包括：患者姓名、入院日期、入院编号、上次入院日期、年龄、婚姻状况、职业、既往居住地、宗教信仰、精神障碍类型及身体健康状况。 1963年起，登记册不再记录既往入院日期及医疗证明详情，但会标注入院类型，如V、R、A、J或S（详见下文）。患者死亡、转院或出院时，需在登记册中补充录入相关详情。 各机构还需单独维护《出院、转院及死亡登记册》，通常简称《出院登记册》。此类登记册详见档案编号VPRS 17873《患者出院登记册》。 至少自1845年《精神障碍患者护理与治疗监管法案》（8 & 9 Vic c.100）颁布起，公立精神病院及持牌疗养机构需维护《患者登记册》。起初，持牌机构所维护的登记册官方名称为《入院登记簿》。部分机构的登记册亦被称为《入院登记册》或《入院与出院登记册》，此类名称有时会加盖在档案卷册上。 《精神错乱法》及其后续立法附件中明确规定的《患者登记册》格式，在1962年《1959年精神健康法案》正式施行前几乎未有改动。此后该登记册正式更名为《患者与出院登记册》，并新增入院类型相关信息。 《1959年精神健康法案》第41至49条明确规定了以下五种入院类型： 1. 自愿住院者（V）：指主动申请入院的患者；若患者未满16周岁，则需经父母或监护人同意，并由执业医师出具评估意见。 2. 推荐入院（R）：经执业医师检查后，可凭规定格式的推荐函办理入院。患者入院后，医院院长需尽快完成检查，核准该推荐入院申请。 3. 核准入院（A）：即经院长核准后的推荐入院患者。 4. 司法强制入院（J）：若经宣誓向治安法官证明精神障碍患者未获得适当照料、无法自理或已实施犯罪，且经两名执业医师检查后，可下达命令将该患者收治或拘留于精神病院。 5. 安保收治患者（S）：指原本被关押于监狱，经鉴定患有精神障碍后转至精神病院收治的患者。 《患者与出院登记册》正式取代了单独的《出院登记册》，但部分机构仍会单独维护患者出院、转院及死亡的记录。