The Herbert Protocol is an information gathering tool to assist the police to find a person living with dementia who has been reported missing as quickly as possible.

Police Scotland have been working in partnership with Scottish Care and Alzheimer Scotland to increase awareness and promote use of the Herbert Protocol and are encouraging people to find out more and pass the information on to anyone that it may be helpful for.

The Herbert Protocol is a nationally recognised scheme supported and endorsed by Police Scotland.  The initiative was first developed by Norfolk Police. It is named after George Herbert, a war veteran of the Normandy landings, who lived with dementia. George Herbert died whilst ‘missing’, trying to find his childhood home.
This can be used for anyone who has a dementia diagnosis and may be at risk of going missing. People living with dementia often have loss of short term memory but can easily recall memories from decades earlier. Sometimes those who are reported missing are attempting to make their way to a place of previous significance to them. 

https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/missing-persons/the-herbert-protocol/

• The Duty of Candour act came into effect on 1^stApril 2018. The overall purpose of this is to ensure organisations are open, honest and supportive if there is an unexpected or unintended incident resulting in death or harm, as defined in the Act.
• Part of the reporting procedure is to openly state how many incidents the duty of candour procedure has applied to each year.
• We are pleased to report that for the years 2018 to March 2024 Crossroads had no such incidents.
• March 2025 Sadly we became aware of an incident where money was taken from the home of a service user.We were lucky to have the full support of the service user and family to carry out investigations to find the evidence we needed to ensure that the staff member who had taken the money was dealt with immediately and sacked from her position as a support worker. the service user was offered recompense and received a written apology. The service user and family were also given the chance to select an alternative care company to deliver the care but we are glad to say that they chose to stay with us and in fact said that they were grateful for the high level of care received. The family refused to have Police involvement so no charges were brought about. The incident was reported in full to the governing bodies, Care Inspectorate, D&G council Commissioning team, SSSC and PVG Disclosure Scotland. This should ensure that the person concerned cannot get employment elsewhere in a care environment.

You can read the regulations in full at : www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2018/57/made/data.pdf