VPRS 17882 Admission and Discharge Register of Patients: Recommended Patients (Royal Park Receiving House, Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital)

This series comprises of volumes detailing male and female Recommended Patient admissions to Royal Park Receiving House (1909-1959) and Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital (1959-1991) (VA 2845). The Register of Patients volumes include: - admission number - patient name - date of reception - marital status - age - sex - occupation - religion - place of abode (suburb only) - by whose authority sent - form of disorder - date of discharge (transfer/committal) Some volumes also recorded place of birth (country) and religion. For immigrant admissions for the period 1965-1966, please consult VPRS 17885 Nominal Register of Patients: Immigrants (Royal Park Receiving House) which, depending on the type of admission, will provide a page reference to either VPRS 17881 or VPRS 17882. 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 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. 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.

本系列由多卷档案构成，详细记录了档案编号VA 2845所涵盖的、1909年至1959年皇家公园接收所（Royal Park Receiving House）与1959年至1991年皇家公园精神病院（Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital）的男女推荐入院患者（Recommended Patient）的入院信息。
患者登记册（Register of Patients）各卷包含以下内容：
- 入院编号
- 患者姓名
- 接收日期
- 婚姻状况
- 年龄
- 性别
- 职业
- 宗教信仰
- 居住地点（仅记录郊区）
- 送治授权方
- 病症类型
- 出院（转院/收押）日期
部分卷册还额外记录了患者的出生地点（国家）及宗教信仰。
如需查阅1965年至1966年期间的移民入院记录，请参阅档案编号VPRS 17885的《患者名义登记册：移民（皇家公园接收所）》，该档案可根据入院类型，提供对应至VPRS 17881或VPRS 17882的页码指引。
自1845年《精神错乱者护理与治疗监管法案》（An Act for the Regulation of the Care and Treatment of Lunatics，8 & 9 Vic c.100）颁布起，公立精神病院及持牌疗养机构需留存患者登记册（Register of Patients）。最初，持牌机构留存的登记册官方名称为《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》，此类名称有时会加盖在卷册之上。
患者入院后，精神病院文员需立即在患者登记册中完成登记。登记信息包括：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、既往居住地点、宗教信仰、精神病症类型及身体健康状况。当患者去世、转院或出院时，需在登记册中补充对应详细信息。各机构还需单独留存《出院、转院及死亡登记册》（Register of Discharges, Removals and Deaths），通常简称《出院登记册》（Discharge Register）。
《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年精神健康法案》（Mental Health Act 1959）颁布前几乎未发生变动。此后该登记册正式更名为《患者与出院登记册》（Register of Patients and Discharge Register），并新增入院类型相关信息。《1959年精神健康法案》第41至49条规定了以下五种入院类型：
- 自愿住院者（Voluntary Boarders，标记V）：指自行申请入院的患者；若患者未满16周岁，则需经父母或监护人提出申请，并取得执业医师的评估意见。
- 推荐入院（Recommended，标记R）与核准入院（Approved，标记A）患者：可凭经执业医师检查后出具的规定格式推荐书申请入院。患者入院后，医院院长需尽快完成评估，核准推荐入院申请或将患者出院。
- 司法强制入院（Judicial Admissions，标记J）：若经治安法官当庭宣誓证实，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，可下达命令将该患者收治或扣留于精神病院。
- 安保患者（Security Patients，标记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留存患者出院、转院及死亡的记录。