NRS-21379 | Patient index cards [Morisset Hospital]

Full description

These are patient admission and discharge index cards for Morisset Hospital for the Insane, later known as Morisset Mental Hospital and Morisset Hospital. A separate card was created for each admission of a patient.

The amount of information recorded on the cards varies depending on period and card type. Early cards, up until the 1920s, routinely record name, register number, date admitted, religion and details of friends, and sometimes bore additional annotations (e.g. age, social condition, discharge, transfer). From the late 1920s, the cards provide additional fields to record: date of birth, social condition (married, single etc.), number of children, occupation, nationality, address, mode of admission (voluntary or certified), date of discharge or death, special information for reports (e.g. details of leave), and date of discharge or death. From 1965, the cards were printed by a mimeographic (Roneo) process and, in addition to the above, record: pension status, previous outpatient psychiatric treatment, number of previous admissions, referred by, source of referral, ward, medical officer, type of admission (first or previous), classification of patient (including re-classifications), and disposal (e.g. relieved home, hospital transferred to). For these later cards, information relating to post admission actions such as dates of discharge, disposal, movements (including leave) and transfers, and details of relatives and friends was entered as handwritten or typed annotations.