NEWS ANALYSIS
National launch of the Herbert Protocol in Scotland
The Herbert Protocol was launched by Police Scotland nationally on Tuesday 21 September , to coincide with World Alzheimer ’ s Day .
Across Scotland we have worked towards adopting a single national process for the Herbert Protocol and raise awareness to increase uptake and use .
The protocol is named after George Herbert , a war veteran of the Normandy landings , who lived with dementia . George Herbert died while ‘ missing ’, trying to find his childhood home and , following this , the protocol was developed by Norfolk Police in 2011 .
It is a UK-wide recognised scheme focused on people living with dementia who may be at risk of going missing . Family and carers are encouraged to complete a Herbert Protocol form in advance , so that significant information is recorded and readily available for police in the event of someone going missing .
It provides personal details , a recent photograph , medical history , places of significance , such as previous addresses , workplaces and frequently-visited places , and information about previous incidents of going missing .
When someone is reported missing this is a very stressful time for families and carers and it can be difficult to recall vital information in this moment of crisis . Completing the form in advance , should it be needed in the future , can help .
If someone is reported missing , the already completed Herbert Protocol form is given to police officers to enable them to quickly obtain relevant information , saving vital time in the early stages of an investigation .
The protocol form can be printed out or stored electronically and kept by a family member or stored in a safe , easily accessible place in the person ’ s home .
Over the last 10 years , the Herbert Protocol has been implemented across many areas of the UK . In Scotland , this was first introduced in Dumfries and Galloway in 2017 , in Aberdeenshire in 2018 and in Edinburgh in 2019 .
In 2020 , a multi-agency partnership was formed with Police Scotland , Health and Social Care Scotland , Scottish Government and Alzheimer Scotland to implement this Scotland-wide . This led to the national launch this year .
Activity to support this launch has included development of a single national form , focused work to increase the uptake of local joint working between police and health and social care staff across Scotland to promote use of the Herbert Protocol in their local areas , and Police Scotland internal work to raise awareness among police staff .
For occupational therapists , the functional assessment and management of risk is a significant area of focus , particularly for those working with people who are living with a dementia diagnosis . Promoting use of the Herbert Protocol is a useful additional tool to help support management plans for people at risk of going missing . The information gathered in the form can also support life story and reminiscence work . Here are some things you can do to help :
• raise awareness among people living with dementia and their families and encourage its use where needed ;
• think about how you can include in your day-to-day work processes and procedures ways to increase staff awareness and promote uptake ;
• give a presentation on the Herbert Protocol to colleagues and local groups ;
• share information about the Herbert Protocol on your social media channels , such as Twitter and Facebook ; and
• spread the word to family and friends . The Herbert Protocol form can also be used together with the
Alzheimer Scotland Purple Alert app . This is a free app designed to help find missing people with dementia by getting the local community to help with the search . If someone is missing , app users will get notified so they can help with the search in their local community .
Further information , including a standard presentation that can be adapted to use in your local area and a communications toolkit to help spread the word ( includes social media and webpage content ), are available from the Healthcare Improvement Scotland iHub , Focus on Dementia webpage ( https :// bit . ly / 2ZbH35I ) and Health and Social Care Scotland ( https :// bit . ly / 2Z9aLby ).
To hear about the difference the Herbert Protocol can make , there is an excellent video from Morag Francis , talking about her decision to implement the Herbert Protocol for her mother , which can be viewed at :
www . youtube . com / watch ? v = v5RvYp4L7ks .
There is also useful information in the Purple Alert Preventative Toolkit for carers on what to do if someone is at risk of going missing at : https :// bit . ly / 3B7ADSt .
We all have an important role to help raise awareness of the Herbert Protocol and Purple Alert app . With thanks for your help to support this . For further information about the Scotland-wide implementation , or to give feedback on where the Herbert Protocol has helped , please contact
karen . thom @ edinburgh . gov . uk .
Karen Thom , strategic planning and commissioning officer – older people , Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership
OTnews November 2021 13