Missing Person Toolkit

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Introduction

This Missing Person Toolkit provides a standardised, auditable approach for recording, escalating and managing incidents where an adult goes missing from a health or social care setting. It supports immediate safety actions, multi‑agency coordination, lawful information sharing, return debriefs and organisational learning to reduce recurrence and harm.

Legislative Requirements

• Care Act 2014 — missing persons in care settings are treated within the safeguarding framework. Providers must assess risk, cooperate with Safeguarding Adults Boards and multi‑agency partners, and support Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) where death or serious harm occurs.
• Mental Capacity Act 2005 — capacity must be assessed at the time decisions about leaving or search/rescue arise. If the person lacks capacity, actions must be justified as in their best interests; DoLS/LPS considerations apply for detained patients who abscond.
• Data Protection Act 2018 / UK GDPR — personal and health information used in locating and safeguarding missing adults is special category data. Common lawful bases include Article 6(1)(d) (vital interests) or 6(1)(e) (public task), with Article 9 conditions for health data. Sharing must be proportionate, necessary and recorded with the legal basis.

Regulatory Guidance

Regulators expect clear, tested missing‑person procedures aligned to national multi‑agency frameworks and local safeguarding protocols.

• CQC (England) — under Regulation 18 (Notifications) providers must notify CQC of unauthorised absences and prolonged returns (28+ days). CQC inspects whether services use risk assessment, multi‑agency coordination and documentation consistent with the Home Office national framework.
• Care Inspectorate (Scotland) — adopts the National Missing Persons Framework (updated 2025). Expectation: local protocols such as Not‑At‑Home, Herbert and Philomena are implemented and staff trained to respond.
• Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) — requires immediate notification of unauthorised absences and adherence to Wales safeguarding procedures; inspection assesses whether procedures, staff competence and follow‑up are in place.

Statutory Guidance

• Accountability — providers must collaborate with police, social services, NHS bodies and safeguarding partners, follow local protocols and ensure timely reporting and information‑sharing to enable effective searches.
• Duty of Candour — apply when a missing incident results in death, significant harm, or prolonged distress; be open with affected persons and families.
• Safeguarding — treat missing incidents as potential safeguarding concerns; apply tiered risk approaches and escalate promptly where required.
• Recording — document all actions, decisions, times, communications and legal bases for data sharing to support investigations and SARs.

HealthCare Guidance

National frameworks and departmental guidance underpin operational practice:

• Home Office / DHSC (England) — The Multi‑Agency Response for Adults Missing from Health and Care Settings sets expectations for multi‑agency assessment, information sharing and search coordination.
• Scottish Government — National Missing Persons Framework promotes prevention, effective response and return debriefs; supports tools such as Herbert and Philomena protocols.
• Wales — missing adults are treated under Wales Safeguarding Procedures (Volume 6) and Social Services and Well‑being (Wales) Act 2014; providers must notify and engage multi‑agency partners.
• NICE — NG189 and related quality standards emphasise that unauthorised absences may indicate neglect or abuse and require prompt multi‑agency action.

Evidence Based Practice

• Adopt multi‑agency leadership via Safeguarding Adults Boards or equivalent local partnerships.
• Apply a risk‑based response: immediate, proportionate actions for high‑risk individuals (dementia, mental health, medical dependency).
• Promote pre‑emptive measures: Herbert Protocol packs for those with dementia; Philomena templates for younger adults/children; up‑to‑date care plans with known risks and likely locations.
• Conduct structured debriefs on return to identify harm, reasons for absence and co‑produce safety plans to reduce recurrence.

Clinical governance and Safety (NHS)

• Treat missing‑patient events as safety incidents: notify Clinical Site Management Teams, undertake risk assessment and decide on local search versus police escalation.
• Record contemporaneous evidence (CCTV checks, ward searches, staff witness statements, entrance/exit logs) and update care plans and risk registers.
• Ensure board‑level oversight of missing‑person trends, action completion and assurance against recurring system failures.

PSIRF

Missing‑person incidents fall within the remit of patient safety incidents where harm or risk is present. Apply PSIRF principles:

• Use proportionate reviews (rapid, thematic or in‑depth) depending on harm, recurrence and learning potential.
• Focus on system learning rather than blame; involve people affected and families with sensitivity.
• Define triggers (time missing, vulnerability, detention status) that escalate the level of review.

Using the Toolkit — Practical Steps

1. Log the Incident — capture reporter, person, location, scheduled/last‑seen time, discovery time and initial risk indicators (health needs, capacity, mobility).
2. Immediate Risk Assessment — classify risk (low/medium/high) using pre‑defined criteria (medical dependency, suicidal ideation, cognitive impairment, known behaviours).
3. Initial Actions — search immediate environment, contact family/next of kin, check care plan for likely locations, review CCTV and access logs, and notify senior clinical/managerial leads.
4. Escalate — contact police promptly when risk is medium/high or local search is unsuccessful; inform safeguarding leads and commissioners as required.
5. Information Sharing — share essential details securely and proportionately, record legal basis (Article 6/9 where applicable) and rationale for disclosures.
6. Recovery & Debrief — on return, conduct a structured debrief with the person (and family where appropriate) to assess harm, reasons for absence and immediate needs.
7. Care Plan Review — update risk assessments, mitigation measures (e.g., increased observations, environmental changes, Herbert Protocol completion) and record actions taken.
8. Investigation & Learning — determine whether a safeguarding referral, SAR, PSIRF review or internal investigation is required; assign actions, owners and verification evidence.
9. Communicate & Support — apply duty of candour where required, provide support to the person and staff involved and share learning across teams.
10. Close & Monitor — verify completion of actions, monitor for recurrence and feed outcomes into governance forums and quality improvement workstreams.

Templates & Data Fields (recommended)

• Event reference, status, priority and incident category (missing, unauthorised absence, return).
• Reporter name/role, date/time last seen, date/time discovered missing, location.
• Person identifiers (anonymise in reports where appropriate), known vulnerabilities, capacity flag, DoLS/LPS/LPA/MHA status.
• Risk assessment outcome (low/medium/high) with rationale and mitigating factors.
• Immediate actions taken: searches, CCTV checks, family contact, police notification (time & reference), safeguarding referral.
• Information shared: recipients, legal basis, justification and secure transmission record.
• Return/debrief notes: wellbeing, injuries, account of events, follow‑up needs and revised safety plan.
• Investigation record: level selected (local/PSIRF/SAR), findings, contributory factors and recommended actions.
• Action plan: description, owner, due date, completion evidence and verification.
• Governance fields: regulator notifications (CQC/CI/CIW), SAB referrals, board escalation and audit trail.

Monitoring, Audit and Reporting

• Maintain a missing‑person register to track open incidents, ageing, overdue actions and repeat individuals or locations.
• Dashboards: counts by category, time to police notification, return outcomes, proportion escalated to safeguarding, SAR/PSIRF activity and action completion rates.
• Audit completeness of logs, timeliness of escalation, quality of debriefs and evidence preservation (CCTV, entry logs).
• Provide regular reports for safeguarding boards, quality committees and commissioners demonstrating oversight, trends and improvement activity.

Value Proposition

• Delivers a single, auditable workflow to manage missing incidents consistently and lawfully across health and care settings.
• Supports rapid mitigation for high‑risk individuals and improves multi‑agency coordination with police and safeguarding partners.
• Enables system learning through return debriefs, PSIRF‑aligned reviews and thematic analysis to prevent recurrence.
• Helps services meet statutory and regulatory duties and provides assurance to governance forums and commissioners.

References

• Care Act 2014
• Mental Capacity Act 2005
• DoLS / Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS)
• The Multi‑Agency Response for Adults Missing from Health and Care Settings: A National Framework for England (Home Office / DHSC)
• Scottish Government — National Missing Persons Framework
• Herbert Protocol; Philomena Protocol
• CQC — Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 — Reg 18
• Care Inspectorate Scotland — Health and Social Care Standards
• Care Inspectorate Wales — National Minimum Standards; Social Services and Well‑being (Wales) Act 2014
• Missing People — sector analysis (2025)
• UK GDPR / Data Protection Act 2018
• Example SOP: Management of Missing Patients in Adult Services — UHBW

Disclaimer

Radar Healthcare provides configuration templates and implementation guidance to support effective use of the platform. Any data protection, regulatory or clinical examples are for general guidance only and do not constitute legal, clinical or compliance advice. Radar Healthcare acts as a data processor under customer instruction. The customer, as data controller, remains responsible for assessing and managing data protection risks, determining lawful processing, and ensuring compliance with applicable regulations.