VPRS 17798 Admission and Discharge Register of Patients (E.C. Dax House Psychiatric Unit)

The E.C. Dax House, a psychiatric unit, was erected as part of The Geelong Hospital in 1979. This series relates specifically to patients admitted to and discharged from Dax House.The Registers in this series contain the following column headings:- type of admission (voluntary, recommended or involuntary)- patient number, in order of admission- date of admission- patients full name- date of birth- marital status- place of abode- religion- form of mental disorder- any bodily condition- superintendents signature- date of discharge, or date of death and cause- or if any transfer to another institution.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.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.

E.C. 达克斯病房（E.C. Dax House）是一处精神科病区，于1979年作为吉朗医院（The Geelong Hospital）的配套设施建成。本系列档案特指收治于达克斯病房并从中出院的患者相关资料。

本系列中的登记册包含以下栏目：入院类型（自愿、推荐或强制）、入院顺序患者编号、入院日期、患者全名、出生日期、婚姻状况、住址、宗教信仰、精神障碍类型、躯体健康状况、院长签名、出院日期或死亡日期及死因、或转至其他医疗机构的相关记录。

自1845年《精神病人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均需留存患者登记册。早期持牌机构的登记册最初官方定名为《入院登记簿》（Book of Admissions）。部分机构的登记册也可称为《入院登记册》或《入院与出院登记册》，此类字样有时会加盖在档案卷宗上。

各机构还需另行留存《出院、转院与死亡登记册》，通常称为《出院登记册》。

《精神错乱法》及其后续立法附件中规定的患者登记册格式，在1962年《1959年精神卫生法案（Mental Health Act 1959）》颁布前，几乎未有大幅调整。此后该登记册正式定名为《患者与出院登记册》，并新增入院类型相关信息。根据1959年《精神卫生法案（Mental Health Act 1959）》第41至49条，共规定了五类入院类型：

1. 自愿住院者（Voluntary Boarders，缩写V）：指主动申请入院的患者，或年满16周岁以下者经其父母或监护人申请，并经执业医师评估同意的人员。
2. 推荐患者（Recommended，缩写R）与核准患者（Approved，缩写A）：可凭经执业医师检查后出具的规定格式推荐函办理入院。患者入院后，医院院长需尽快对患者进行评估，核准该推荐入院申请或将患者出院。
3. 司法收治（Judicial Admissions，缩写J）：若经宣誓向治安法官提交的证据显示，精神疾病患者未获得妥善照料、无法自理或已实施犯罪行为，且经两名执业医师检查后，可下达收治或拘留于精神病院的命令。
4. 安保收治患者（Security Patients，缩写S）：指原本被关押于监狱，经鉴定患有精神疾病后转至精神病院的人员。

《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、转院及死亡相关记录。