VPRS 17887 Admission and Discharge Register of Psychiatric Patients

This series comprises of admission and discharge registers from Mildura Base Hospital (VA 1269).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.Immediately upon the admission of a person to a psychiatric facility, the clerk of the facility 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- form of mental disorder- state of physical health.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.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.

本数据集包含米尔杜拉基地医院（Mildura Base Hospital，档案编号VA 1269）的入院与出院登记册。
自1845年起，随着《精神病人护理与治疗监管法案》（8 & 9 Vic c.100）正式颁布，公立精神病院及持牌疗养机构均需建立患者登记册。最初，持牌机构留存的此类登记册官方名称为《入院簿》。部分机构的此类登记册也可称为入院登记册或入院与出院登记册，相关名称有时会加盖在卷宗封面上。
患者一经入住精神卫生机构，机构书记员便需在患者登记册中完成条目登记。登记的详细信息包括：患者姓名、入院日期、入院编号、末次入院日期、年龄、婚姻状况、职业、既往居所、宗教信仰、精神障碍类型、身体健康状况。当患者去世、转院或出院时，登记册中还需补充对应详细信息。各机构还需另行留存出院、转介与死亡登记册，该登记册通常简称为出院登记册。
《精神错乱法规》及后续立法的附表中对患者登记册格式作出了明确规定，该格式在1962年《1959年精神卫生法案》正式颁布前几乎未作调整。此后该登记册正式更名为《患者与出院登记册》，并新增了入院类型相关信息。根据1959年《精神卫生法案》第41至49条规定，共有以下五类入院类型：
自愿住院者（Voluntary Boarders，标识V）：指自行申请入院的患者；若患者年龄未满16周岁，则需经父母或监护人同意，并由执业医师出具相关意见后方可入院。
推荐入院（Recommended，标识R）与核准入院（Approved，标识A）患者：患者可凭经执业医师检查后出具的指定格式推荐书申请入院。患者入院后，医院主管需尽快对其进行检查，要么核准该推荐入院申请，要么将患者出院。
司法强制入院（Judicial Admissions，标识J）：若经治安法官宣誓证实的信息显示，精神疾病患者未得到妥善照料、无法自立或已实施犯罪行为，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在精神病院。
安保收容患者（Security Patients，标识S）：指原本被关押在监狱，经确诊患有精神疾病后转至精神病院的患者。
《患者与出院登记册》正式取代了单独的出院登记册，但部分机构仍会另行留存患者出院、转院与死亡相关记录。