Registers of In-Patients

The first in-patients were admitted on 26 April 1793. Until 1948, no in-patients could be admitted unless they had a letter of recommendation from one of the hospital's subscribers. The criteria for admission was very strict; heavily pregnant women were omitted, for example, as was anyone with an infectious disease. Further details can be found in the hospital's rules and regulations, held under reference MH/T4/AS. Amendments to the rules are also often outlined in the annual reports, held under reference MH/T4/AR 1.

This series of records is, unfortunately, incomplete, with very large gaps in the surviving volumes. Some of the gaps can be filled by using the proceedings of the Weekly Board (see MH/T4/AM 1, AM 4) and the registers of subscribers and recommendation papers (MH/T4/FS), although they can really only be used to confirm a patient's presence in the hospital.

The information contained in the in-patient registers varies over time, but as a general rule the pre-1928 records usually include the following: patient reference number; name, address (usually just the parish) and age of the patient; diagnosis; dates of admission and discharge; name of physician/surgeon; by whom recommended; by whom removed and whether or not the patient benefited from the treatment.

The post 1928 volumes are much larger in format and include much more detailed information: patient reference number; name, full address and age of the patient; diagnosis; dates of admission and discharge; name of physician/surgeon; name of ward; mode of admission (usually only the emergency admissions are noted) and remarks (these latter usually relate to the scheme under which the patient was admitted). From October 1948, the religion of most patients is also included.

It is worth noting that, owing to the extent of the damage caused by fire, internal evidence (usually the patient reference numbers) has been used to identify some of the volumes as in-patient registers. Also, there is some overlap in two of the volumes (MH/T4/Ki 19-20) for the years 1946 to 1947. Unfortunately, the first of these two registers is in such a poor condition that the way in which they inter-relate can not be determined.