By Adam Morris
Dozens of patients go missing from Scottish hospitals every week, new figures have revealed, leaving police stretched and families fraught with concern.
There were 3,455 cases of patients absconding across all health boards in 2024 which, although a minimal decrease on the previous year, represents a longer-term upward trend.
It means more than nine patients vanish on average each day, many with complex mental health needs, and often requiring the involvement of police for either the public’s or the patient’s own safety.
Last year’s statistic is a rise of more than 40 per cent compared to 2020.
Patients can go missing for a variety of reasons, from dangerous individuals escaping psychiatric facilities to someone not returning at an agreed point of leave.
The statistics, obtained by 1919 through Freedom of Information, also show many cases involved elderly patients wandering out of dementia wards, or others discharging themselves without notifying staff.
Police are not automatically called in the event of an abscondment, but must be alerted if the person poses a risk to themselves or the wider public.
The figures have prompted particular concern about the number of elderly patients living with dementia who disappear from wards.
“When someone with dementia goes missing, it’s a distressing time for families,” said Fiona Corner, head of innovations and development for charity Alzheimer Scotland.
“There can be many reasons behind this behaviour, but often the person isn’t making a conscious choice to leave without telling anyone. They may be ‘walking with purpose’ to a place held in their memory.”
Katherine Crawford, chief executive of Age Scotland, added: “For older patients living with dementia, a hospital stay is often a very stressful time and can contribute to an overall decline in their condition.
“It is particularly important that healthcare facilities caring for people living with dementia maintain a secure and safe environment at all times.”
David Threadgold, chair of the Scottish Police Federation, said that while officers accept they play a crucial role in tracking down missing people, the strain has increased.
“It has become the default for health colleagues to contact the police to report all persons who ‘go missing’ from health facilities,” he said.
“This default position, and I have to be frank here, is usually because healthcare professionals simply do not have the capacity to ensure that all persons who report to health facilities actually remain there until they can be properly triaged.
“Once it is found that they are no longer within that setting, the default is to contact the police to report them missing.”
“It is particularly important that healthcare facilities caring for people living with dementia maintain a secure and safe environment at all times”
Katherine Crawford, Age Scotland
Abscondments were recorded across all types of hospitals, with major infirmaries and smaller cottage facilities affected.
Analysis of some responses suggests psychiatric facilities were most likely to raise an alert in relation to a missing person.
For example, in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – the country’s largest health board – it was Leverndale Hospital, a busy mental inpatient facility on the city’s southside, which recorded the most cases last year.
But the city’s acute hospitals, the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Glasgow Royal Infirmary, also experienced hundreds of incidents over the last five years.
In Edinburgh, while the capital’s Royal Infirmary recorded the most cases, it was closely followed by the Royal Edinburgh, an exclusively psychiatric facility.
Dozens of young people also go missing from Scotland’s children’s hospitals each year.
“Leverndale Hospital is one of the largest mental health units in Scotland and consistently runs at 100 per cent occupancy,” a spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde told 1919.
“A number of Leverndale patients have been detained under the Mental Health Act and, as such, would require to be reported missing if they abscond.
“We have strong links with policing teams in the communities of all our sites, and welcome any opportunity to engage further with our partners at Police Scotland.”
| Number of patients absconding across Scotland by year | |
| 2020 | 2,412 |
| 2021 | 2,552 |
| 2022 | 2,936 |
| 2023 | 3,468 |
| 2024 | 3,455 |