NRS-20945 | Chelmsford Royal Commission Documents (Term one) Database [Royal Commission into the former Chelmsford Private Hospital and Mental Health Services in New South Wales]

Full description

This series comprises the supporting documentation received and created by the Royal Commission into the former Chelmsford Private Hospital and Mental Health Services in New South Wales in relation to the first term of reference. It contains records such as submissions, interviews, reports, and articles.

The series used the Chelmsford Hospital Royal Commission Transcript Enquiry System, a free-text database managed by the STATUS software which stored electronic records and the locations of physical records. The series controlled both electronic records and physical records.

Patient summaries were entered into the Documents database and the following data was stored: name, address, type, Doctor, Institution, date admitted, date discharged, sex, marriage status, age, notes generally a brief descriptor of condition and a volume location.

The Document database controlled item listings of documents that were boxed by Commission staff and was used as a finding aid for a wide variety of material such as patient files, newspaper cuttings, nurse's notes, correspondence, inquest files from coroner's courts, transcripts from taped police interviews, transcripts of telephone interviews undertaken by Commission staff with ex-patients and lists of nursing staff employed at Chelmsford Private Hospital.

Documents database stored the Royal Commission's Records 42/- series. The following classification numbering system was used.

1/- Department of Health
2/- MDU Medical Defence Union
3/- Nurses Records
4/- Dr Bailey's patient files
5/- PIAC [Public Interest Advocacy Centre]
6/- Attorney General's Department
7/- Police Department
8/- Dr Herron
9/- Hart vs Herron
10/- Pennant Hills Community Hospital
11/- [not used]
12/- Silbermann
13/- Dr Rogan
14/- [not used]
15/- Dr Gill
16/- Medical Board NSW
17/- Department of Community Services
18/- Sydney Morning Herald
19/- Premier's Office
20/- Vieria Bennell and Company
21/- [not used]
22/- Nurse notes
23/- AMN Summons
24/- Miscellaneous TCN Channel 9, Ombudsman Office
25/- [not used]
26/- Investigation Committee
27/- Inquest files
28/- RANZCP Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
29/- Supreme Court files
30/- Hornsby Kur-ring-gai Hospital Records
31/- Miscellaneous Complaints
32/- Police vs Bailey
33/- Miscellaneous Complaints Unit
34/- Australia Post
35/- John Hatton
36/- Prince Henry Hospital
37/- Ron Segal
38/- Elva Howard interview
39/- VHS tapes
40/- Complaints to Australian Psychological Society
41/- McNeice
42/- State Crown

The series also includes digital born records extracted from back-up floppy disks held by Chelmsford Hospital Royal Commission that were associated with the Document Database. These contain parts of interviews that were held, additional submissions, and transcriptions from tape interviews. Also included was a listing of patients arranged alphabetically by surname in three to four yearly blocks from 1963 to 1980. Information given was name, sex, age, date of discharged date of death, DST (Deep Sleep Therapy), Y/N, Doctor (by numeric code).