VPRS 17893 Admission and Discharge Register of Patients

This series comprises of volumes detailing male and female patient admissions to Royal Park (VA 2845), presumably Hospital for the Insane (1909-1934) and Mental Hospital (1934-1954) given the time frame of the series. Further research is needed to determine whether the register records a particular type of patient, such as Recommended patient; or whether the register is indeed from a particular ward, hospital or receiving house of Royal Park.Infromation recorded includes:- admission number- patient name- admission date- marital status- DOB- religion- previous place of abode- discharge dateFrom 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.

本系列包含多卷档案，详细记录了皇家公园（Royal Park, VA 2845）收治的男女患者入院信息。根据本系列的时间范围推断，该机构在1909年至1934年期间为精神病院（Hospital for the Insane），1934年至1954年更名为精神卫生医院（Mental Hospital）。仍需开展进一步研究，以明确该登记册是否记录了特定类型的患者（例如推荐收治患者），或该登记册是否确实源自皇家公园的特定病区、医院或接收机构。

登记内容包括：入院编号、患者姓名、入院日期、婚姻状况、出生日期（Date of Birth, DOB）、宗教信仰、既往居住地、出院日期。

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（public asylums）与持牌诊疗机构（licensed houses）即被要求建立患者登记册（Register of Patients）。最初，持牌诊疗机构维护的登记册官方名称为《入院登记簿》（Book of Admissions）。部分机构的该登记册也可称为入院登记册（Admissions Register）或入院出院登记册（Admission and Discharge Register），上述术语有时会加盖在档案卷册上。

患者入院后，精神病院的文书人员需立即在患者登记册中进行登记。需登记的细节包括：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、既往居住地、宗教信仰、精神障碍类型与身体健康状况。当患者死亡、转院或出院时，需在登记册中补充相关细节。各机构还需另行建立出院、转介与死亡登记册（Register of Discharges, Removals and Deaths），通常简称出院登记册（Discharge Register）。

《精神错乱法》（Lunacy Statute）及其后续立法的附件中规定的患者登记册格式，在1962年《1959年精神卫生法》（Mental Health Act 1959）颁布前几乎未发生变化。此后该档案正式更名为患者与出院登记册（Register of Patients and Discharge Register），并新增了入院类型相关信息。《1959年精神卫生法》第41至49条规定了以下五类入院类型：
1. 自愿住院者（Voluntary Boarders，缩写V）：指自行提出入院申请的患者，若患者年龄未满16周岁，则需由父母或监护人提出申请，并经执业医师评估同意。
2. 推荐收治（Recommended，缩写R）与核准收治（Approved，缩写A）患者：患者可凭经执业医师检查后签署的规定格式推荐书申请入院。患者入院后，医院院长需尽快对其进行评估，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）：若经宣誓后向治安法官提交的证据表明，精神疾病患者未获得适当照料、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卫生医院。
4. 安保收治患者（Security Patients，缩写S）：指原本被羁押于监狱，经鉴定患有精神疾病后转至精神卫生医院的患者。

患者与出院登记册正式取代了单独的出院登记册，但部分机构仍继续单独留存患者出院、转院与死亡相关记录。