Out of hours help

Please call us if:

• a child or young person is in urgent need of protection from harm
• a parent, foster carer or child needs emergency help, advice or support
• a carer or a vulnerable adult (those with mental health problems, physical or learning disabilities or older people) is in urgent need

We cannot help if:

• the situation can wait until the next working day, without risk of harm
• it is a working day. (you will need to contact your local Social Services)
• it is a medical emergency (you must phone your GP or an ambulance)

You can phone the Emergency Duty Team on:

• 5:30pm - 01:30am (Weekdays)
• 09:00am - 01:30am (Saturday / Sunday / Bank Holidays)

In the most serious emergencies only a Social Worker is ‘on call’ every day of the year from 1.30am to 8.30am. Contact can be made via the police who will then contact the social worker.

The Emergency Duty Team is made up of three senior social workers and a coordinator. We can also draw from pool of sessional staff if needed.

• Information and advice
• Social worker visit
• Arrangement of services

Our help is designed to safeguard a situation until the next working day.

The service prioritises requests on the basis of the information you give. We will then decide whether a visit from a Social Worker is needed. If a Social Worker is going to visit you, it will usually take them 20-45 minutes to arrive depending on where you live. It may take longer if they are already on another call. The emergency duty team does not receive visitors under any circumstance. If we do not agree you need emergency help, we may be able to give you advice about where you can get help.

Only the cost of a telephone call. The service provided by the Emergency Duty Team is free.

The Emergency Duty Team works closely with the day time services. If you already have contact with day time services we will pass on any information relating to your call to us onto the relevant team.