Dementia scheme comes under fire after man found wandering streets

A scheme to safeguard people with dementia has come under fire after a Barnard Castle man was found wandering the streets.

Stephen Roberts, who lives with dementia, was spotted near The Bowes Museum, where he used to walk his dog before he and his wife moved to Beaconsfield Court Care Home on Galgate.

A woman who found him took him to Barnard Castle Police Station. It was closed but as she was making a telephone report, the postman arrived.

Mr Roberts’ daughter Sally said: “The first I realised was when Mark, the postman, knocked on my door just after 6am with my dad in his van.

“Since he knows me from his post round, he brought dad home.”

After a bacon butty, Mr Roberts went back to his residence at Beaconsfield Court.

A spokesman for the home later said: “The resident was quickly located and safely returned to the home and is safe and well.

“Our team acted promptly and has since reviewed procedures and further enhanced the safeguards that are in place.”

While Ms Roberts was happy with the steps taken by the care home to ensure there would not be a repeat, she was less impressed with Durham Police’s use of the Herbert protocol, a national multi-agency scheme to prevent vulnerable adults going missing and improve responses to locate them safely if they do.

“I tried to sign up my parents – they have dementia and are both in Beaconsfield. I tried to sign up on the police website last year and the year before, but I couldn’t do it.

“I complained at the time to the police that their website didn’t give that facility.”

Ironically, it was information from that complaint which enabled officers to contact her when they followed up the report about Mr Roberts being found.

Since the incident the police have found a way to rectify the website situation.

The Mercury asked Durham Police to respond to Ms Roberts’ comments.

However, a spokesman explained that they could not account for an incident that had happened years earlier.

As part of Dementia Action Week (May 18-24), Durham Police has been encouraging the use of a wristband and tag scheme to help prevent vulnerable people from going missing.

The Dementia Safeguarding Wristband Scheme means if somebody is found in a confused state, scanning a QR code will call up vital information to help return them to their loved ones.

The tags contain basic information about the person wearing them, including a contact for a family member or carer.

For more information on the protocol, Durham police has a designated email address at herbert.protocol@durham.police.uk