Absent or Missing Residents

If staff suspect that a resident is missing and there is no information regarding their whereabouts, an alarm is raised immediately by informing the person in charge or manager. Such situations include.

• Where a resident has not returned from an arranged outing, activity or walk.
• Where a resident cannot be found in the home or grounds and no arrangements have been made for an          outing, activity or walk.

In the event that it is clear that a resident is missing, all staff members on duty should work as a team by checking records for any arranged outings, asking other residents, contacting next of kin or friends. The service manager should make effort to contact the resident or people where the young person could be if they are overdue to return.

Where contact cannot be made and there is concern that the person could be at risk, police should be contacted and provided with all the information related to the person in terms of where they normally go, next of kin, friends or other people they may know.

Where a resident is not on a prearranged outing, activity or walk then the following procedure should be followed. The person in charge or manager should:

• Alert all staff to the possibility that the service user is missing and investigate regarding and last known         sightings.
• Ask residents who are known to the individual about resident’s plans and movements.
• A search of the home and grounds and neighbouring areas to check if the resident could be in a                       favourite spot or lost is essential checking that the resident has not become lost or trapped. A                           systematic search is recommended and if the person is not found the local police is alerted and their               advice and assistance sought.
• Members of the missing resident’s family should be contacted in case the resident has visited family.
• The person in charge or manager should, at the earliest opportunity, fill out an incident form and make a         suitable note of events in the resident’s notes. Times of actions and decisions should be noted as                     accurately as possible.
• Families should be requested to telephone the home if the resident contacts them and relatives should           be kept informed at each stage of the search.
• Once the resident has been found, it is essential that all the parties who were advised of the emergency         are contacted again and informed that the search has been concluded.

Staff must record the incident in the residents care plan and will include the times the person went mission and when they returned and actions taken.

If the resident was injured or harmed or was seriously at risk of being harmed as a result of going missing the management will notify the Care Quality Commission and the relevant Local Authority Safeguarding Unit, who might wish to investigate further depending on the circumstances.

If a complaint is made against a care staff member as a result of a resident going missing, the matter will be investigated through the complaints procedure. The investigation will include any possible misconduct by the care staff responsible as a result of the person going missing through its established disciplinary procedures.

All staff are made aware of the possible consequences of a resident whom they are supervising going missing.

Training

All staff are trained in the missing persons procedure and to know their role in the event of a search.