Are you worried that your elderly relative, friend or client that you provide live-in care for, who has dementia or Alzheimer's may go missing? If you have a vulnerable person in your family that you provide home care for, we understand that you will worry if they walk out of the door alone and leave their phone at home they may be hard to find and bring home safely. Which is why we wanted to tell you about the Herbert Protocol. Named after George Herbert, a War veteran of the Normandy landings who lived with dementia, the Herbert Protocol is a national scheme introduced by the Met Police in partnership with other agencies to help find vulnerable people quicker.
What is the Herbert Protocol?
This is a tool to help reduce the time and ultimately risk in an event where a vulnerable person goes missing from their home. It involves forms which live-in carers, family members and friends can complete in advance and then give to the police to help them find the missing person quicker. The forms include information such as medication, places previously found in, photograph, identifying details, and much more. Please note this is not to replace exiting safeguarding and security measures and to be used only once a vulnerable person goes missing.
The form can be completed by a home carer, a family member or the person themselves - and kept updated regularly. This form can then be stored in a safe and secure place but where you can find it easily to reduce time - the police will need a paper copy which they will take at the time of visit once the person has been reported missing.
If you do find your friend or relative missing, don't hesitate to call 999 to explain the situation and tell the operator that you have the Herbert Protocol of the person.
For more information on the Herbert Protocol visit: https://www.met.police.uk/herbertprotocol
If you are worried about your relative or loved one who is vulnerable and either live on their own or spend a lot of time on their own, you could consider live-in care as an option to keep them safe living in the comfort of their own home. Find out more about live-in care and how we can help you by clicking here: https://www.access-care.co.uk/live-in-care