On Wednesday, April 19, Health Minister Paul Burstow visited the charity to celebrate the launch of the Reconnect Network - a new information-sharing initiative to find vulnerable missing people. The event marked the publication of a short Reconnect Network Summary Report of the pilot.

Martin Houghton-Brown, Chief Executive of Missing People, says, “We approached the Department of Health two years ago in hopes of better coordinating our efforts with mental health service providers across the country.

 Today’s launch of the Reconnect Network proves that it is possible to safeguard vulnerable people through appropriate sharing of information, and we sincerely hope that this sets a model that others will take up.”

The Reconnect Network, which rests on a protocol designed to enable the safe exchange of personal information about vulnerable missing adults between agencies, was successfully piloted for six months in Westminster last year. During this time Missing People put out 40 requests to the network to trace vulnerable adults, resulting in nine letters being passed to them.

 Paul Burstow MP (Minister of State for Care Services, Department of Health) says, “Missing People do a fantastic job supporting vulnerable people. Across the country, even here in the shadow of Big Ben, there are many people desperately in need of the support they give.

 “This week alone, 5,000 people will go missing and as many as four in five of them will have mental illness, learning disabilities or dementia. These pilots are an important step in making a real difference to the outcome when this happens. This is a tremendous example of what happens when Government and the voluntary sector come together and I’m keen to continue working with Missing People to make sure this work makes a difference on a bigger scale in the future.”

The event took place at the charity’s offices in London, and confirmed attendees included senior representatives of voluntary and statutory organisations in Westminster, as well a relative of a missing person.

Alongside the Health Service, police and Westminster City Council, five voluntary and community organisations have signed up to this information-sharing protocol: Westminster Mind, London Cyrenians, Thames Reach, the Passage Day Centre and St Martin’s Day Centre.