Smith Street Clinic (1958?)

Warning about distressing information

This guide contains information that some people may find distressing. If you experienced abuse as a child or young person in an institution mentioned in this guide, it may be a difficult reading experience.Guides may also contain references to previous views, policies and practices that are regrettable and do not reflect the current views, policies or practices of the department or the State of Victoria. If you find this content distressing, please consult with a support person either from the Department of Health and Human Services or another agency.

Patient information

PLEASE NOTE: Patients could be admitted to a Receiving House for short-term treatment and care, but were not permitted to remain longer than two months.
Patients still needing treatment after two months could be sent to a Psychiatric Hospital, in the same institution/complex or another. Hence, there could be more than one set of records for any one person. Please check each location for former patient records.

List of records held by the department

For information relating to the central management of care leavers and wards of state, please consult the guide to Central department wardship and out-of-home care records. These collections date back to the 1860s and include ward registers, index cards and ward files.

Register of patients [Smith Street Clinic and Pleasant View Rehabilitation Centre] (1953–88)

Volume; Permanet VPRS Number 17917 / P0001

Content: This collection primarily contains entries from Smith Street Clinic.

The seventh volume (admissions 1988–92) contains entries from both Smith Street Clinic and Pleasant View Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre.

Entries were made in the register in chronological order by the date of admission. Most volumes contain an index of patient surnames.

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
• health information

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The register of patients and discharge register officially superseded the separate discharge register; however some institutions continued to maintain a separate record of patient discharges, transfers and deaths.

For the most part, patient records are arranged by the date of admission or date of discharge (including death). Some institutions, however, maintained a nominal register of patients, which can be used to access records by patient surname.

Admissions of patients were recorded in date order in registers of patients and patients were allocated an admission number. An index of surnames was often created to provide access to the entries. The admission warrants authorising the committal of the patients to the institution were filed by admission number and hence are also arranged chronologically by date of admission.

Patient warrants (1976–95)

Document; Temporary

Content: Patient warrants which indicate that a patient was lawfully admitted to and discharged from the Smith Street Clinic. This collection includes documentation relating to both voluntary and involuntary patients admitted to the clinic.

It contains records that authorised admission; also statements of personal details of patients, forms associated with leave and discharge from the clinic.

The warrants are grouped by date of discharge and, within groups, by admission number.

Patient files [Pleasant View Centre, Gresswell Sanatorium, Smith Street Clinic] (1975–83 and 1983–95)

File; Temporary

Content: This accession consists of patient files from Pleasant View Centre, Gresswell Sanatorium and Smith Street Clinic. The files document each patient’s treatment and progress and may include a statement of personal details.

The files are in alphabetical older and the following details are provided for each patient: year of attendance; UR number; family name; first names; date of birth.

Master patient index cards (Pleasant View Centre, Gresswell Sanatorium and Smith Street Clinic) (c.1975–95 and 1983–95)

Card; Unappraised

Content: This accession is the master list of clients who attended Drug Services Victoria facilities, comprising Pleasant View Centre, Gresswell Sanatorium and Smith Street Clinic. The cards provide the following details:

• admission date
• discharge date
• outpatient attendance.

They are arranged in alphabetical order by patient name.