• home
• full contents
• keywords & contacts
• contact us / update
• search
• forms library
• 

Contents

1. Structure of Emergency Duty Team (EDT) 
2. Operational Hours
3. Handover from Daytime Staff to EDT
4. Alerts and Useful Information
5. Handover from EDT to Daytime Staff 
6. EDT Recording  
7. Consultation and Advice Out of Hours 
8. Security and Lone Working 
9. Looked After Children, Sick, Absent or Missing 
10. Undertaking Mental Health Assessments of Looked After Children 
11. EDT Working Arrangements  

1. Structure of Emergency Duty Team (EDT)

The Emergency Duty Team (EDT) offers a generic emergency social work service out of hours. The Team covers all social work emergencies between 5:00pm and 9:00am weekdays and for 24 hours over Bank Holidays and weekends.

The Team is comprised of 5 Senior Practitioners and a Team Manager. All Team members participate in the Rota covering all hours when day time offices are shut. The Team Manager is also available part time during normal office hours.

There is one Social Worker on duty who is responsible for prioritising the response to the competing referrals across all service user groups. These procedures relate to Children's Social Care only.

2. Operational Hours

Monday – Friday
17:00  -  09:00 next day

Sat/Sun/Bank Hol:
09:00  -  09:00 next day

Contact Details Mon – Fri 9:00am till 5:00pm:

Tel:- 0208 690 9980

Fax:- 0208 690 3611

Simon Watts - T: 07956 371 522

Email: Simon.watts2lewisham.gov.uk

3. Handover from Daytime Staff to EDT

It is an established protocol that work started by daytime colleagues is completed by them wherever possible. We do offer support and assistance to colleagues working beyond their normal working hours. If the work is likely to be protracted and significantly beyond normal working hours then negotiation with EDT and handover would be appropriate.

Requests for "planned emergency" work should be made to the EDT Team Manager. EDT will undertake planned out of hours work where requests are appropriate but this is on the understanding that we may have to prioritise responses to presenting social work emergencies.

How to refer/notify EDT of possible referrals/work

When giving information to EDT please consider including the following to supplement that which is recorded electronically:-  household details, addresses, phone numbers and next of kin or extended family details and contact numbers, information about potential or actual risks, contingency plans and if available alternative placement or service provision details. We have access to ICS, SWIFT, Meridio and indirectly EPJS. If EDT is to be involved in emergency legal action we will require written evidence to present to Police or Magistrates.

There are several ways of getting information to EDT.

• E-MAIL
  
  Our e-mail is:- _CYP CSC EmergencyDutyTeam@lewisham.gov.uk 
  
  Don't forget the initial underscore.
• TELEPHONE
  
  EDT can be contacted via the main switchboard 0208 314 6000 from 5:00pm onwards weekdays and around the clock Bank Holidays and weekends.
  
   When contacting EDT ensure that you identify yourself as an employee and give a contact number, landline or mobile. We prioritise returning calls from our daytime colleagues, as we are aware that you have been working all day.
• FAX
  
  Our fax number is: - 0208 690 3611
  
  Please do not send urgent faxed  information without leaving a message with  switchboard or via e-mail to alert EDT that it has been sent. EDT workers are not always available in the office and unless they are aware a fax has been sent they will not routinely check.

4. Alerts and Useful Information

Alerts and information from day time colleagues will routinely be circulated around the team , all Team members will have access to alerting e-mails sent to our group e-mail address.

Fostering Duty will e-mail a copy of in-house Foster Carers who can be contacted out of hours. These vacancies are updated daily and e-mailed to EDT.

The out of hours Appropriate Adult Rota is e-mailed on a weekly basis to EDT.

Copies of the following are kept at the EDT office:-

• Recent alerts
• Copies of all EDT reports for the preceding six months
• The Appropriate Adult Rota
• A list of Psychiatrists, Section 12, (MHA 1983)
• A list of Justices who will consider out of hours applications for Section 135 warrants, (MHA 1983)
• A list and guidelines for the use of Magistrates willing to deal with out of hours EPO applications.

5. Handover from EDT to Daytime Staff

EDT will complete a typed report of all work undertaken and ensure that it is emailed to the appropriate day time team by 9:00am the next working day.

In addition EDT will phone to offer additional information or alert colleagues to particularly urgent work that will require immediate attention. The EDT worker finishing the shift will be available until 10:30am the following day for telephone consultation.

This verbal handover is important and ensures there is no confusion about the information in reports and gives our day time colleagues the opportunity to ask additional clarifying questions.

6. EDT Recording

Emergency Duty Social Workers should complete all recording, reports, monitoring forms and log sheets before 9:00am the next working day. All reports should be emailed to the appropriate day time teams and the EDT office by 9:00am the next working day.

The reports emailed to the EDT office will enable copy reports to be sent to day time teams if required and can be added to the library of reports that serve as a reference for EDT colleagues.

Where a child has been accommodated by EDT a copy of the EDT Report and the PL1 and PL2 should be emailed to the appropriate day time team and to the Commissioning & Placements Team.

7. Consultation and Advice Out of Hours

The Emergency Duty Team Manager is available out of hours for advice and consultation for EDT.

In addition EDT have contact details for Senior Managers. Children's Social Care have an on call rota.

Senior Managers will be contacted in the following circumstances only:-

• For approval for placement
• As Nearest Relative, (MHA 1983), for a Looked After Child subject to a formal Mental Health Act assessment
• If a very substantial amount of regular money is to be committed
• If an incident takes place that is likely to gather press attention
• If a significant injury or death of a service user occurs
• If a large or significant incident develops that may trigger the Authority's
• Emergency Plan.

8. Security and Lone Working

Under no circumstances is the office location to be given to members of the public when you are on shift. (If a caller wants the address because they wish to make a complaint you can advise them to contact the Team Manager during daytime hours 0208 690 9980 or they could contact the Complaints & Representations officers via the main switchboard number Mon – Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm.)

There should be no callers to this office, do not ever feel pressured by professionals or others to accept a child at the office pending a placement. You cannot provide childcare whilst simultaneously providing an emergency social work service.

Unlike our daytime colleagues we do not have colleagues to accompany us on Home visits. There are other professionals working out of hours, District Nurses, SELDOC, Domiciliary Care services, Home Treatment Teams and Linkline, it may be possible to undertake a joint visit with these professionals subject to negotiation and dependent on the referral.

Checks should be made with both the Local Authority and SLAM electronic service user databases to identify any possible risks before considering a Home visit. On SWIFT those known to present risks of violence are flagged up with a red light on the top corner of the Case Front sheet. On ICS those with known risks are highlighted on the individual's personal front sheet and any details are recorded under the Risk tab.

We will often visit with Police to undertake Child Protection investigations, Adult Protection Investigations or community Mental Health Act assessments. They will provide any additional information about potential risks from their own database. In addition consideration should be given to requesting Police complete single agency "welfare checks" where appropriate.

If you are to undertake a visit, please ensure you give Switchboard the details of the address, family names and an indication of the purpose. You can arrange for them to call you at an agreed time to check that you are safe, with an agreed password if preferred. If they get no response at the agreed time you can ask them to contact Police via 999 to ensure your safety.

If you need to summon help quickly call 999. If your mobile phone has no signal dial 112, this diverts to a satellite signal and puts you through to the 999 call centre. All phone companies have signed up to this service, it also gives them a GPS trace on you if you don't know where you are.

We occasionally get requests for Section 17, (CA89), monies. We only provide financial assistance in exceptional circumstances and special care should be taken about carrying and giving money out of hours. If Section 17 assistance is to be given you may want to consider meeting the service user at a public place, outside the Police Station or leaving money/food for collection at Lewisham Town Hall.

Similar caution should also be taken when considering transporting service users either yourself or commissioning others to transport them. We have a taxi account with Sure Cars, they are not to be used routinely, if it is a local journey and there are no identified risks and dependent on other work then it may be appropriate for EDT to consider transporting the service user. 

Balancing the need for providing a service, assessing the risks to and vulnerability of the service user, with the need to ensure your own safety, should be made in all circumstances where direct contact with service users is to be made.

9. Looked After Children, Sick, Absent or Missing

The following must be read in conjunction with Children Missing from Home Procedures If it is reported to the EDT late at night that a Looked After child is sick, Absent or Missing, the Parent(s) will only be notified immediately if the child is seriously ill or at risk, otherwise they will be notified the next day; assuming the child is still sick, Absent or Missing.

10. Undertaking Mental Health Assessments of Looked After Children.

To follow: Children and Mental Health Act text.

Where EDT are requested to undertake a formal Mental Health Act assessment of a Looked After Child special considerations in relation to consultation with the Nearest Relative, (MHA83), by the Emergency Duty Social Worker, (EDSW), are required.

The EDSW should consult another Officer of the Authority and not simultaneously act as "corporate Parent" or seek to exercise delegated Parental Responsibility, (PR), whilst undertaking a Mental Health Act assessment. 

Whether a child is subject to Section 20 or Section 31 (CA89) the EDSW should consult Parents when undertaking a formal MHA assessment and considering any application under the MHA83.

Only in very exceptional circumstances would consultation with the Parent not be routinely undertaken:- 

• Where those with PR are absent/unavailable
• Where a child is considered "Gillick competent" and is deemed to have capacity to object to such consultation or has previously indicated an objection and
• Such consultation would cause such significant emotional or psychological distress or exacerbate their mental state, that to pursue consultation may constitute a breach of their Human Rights.

Where an application for Section 3 MHA83, is being considered for a child subject to Section 31 CA89 and the Parent/NR objects to such an application the Local Authority, by virtue of its PR, may consider overriding this opposition and consent to such an application.

The EDT Team Manager should be consulted as Nearest Relative in the following circumstances:-

• For those children subject to Section 20 and Section 31 CA89 whose Parents are absent/unavailable
• For those "gillick competent" children subject to Section 20 CA89 where consultation is deemed "impracticable" as described above
• For all children subject to Section 31 CA89
• Where the Parent/NR of a child subject to Section 31 CA89 has objected to the application for Section 3 MHA83 and consent from the Local Authority is required for the application to proceed.

If the EDT Team Manager is the EDSW on duty they will consult with the Children's Social Care Senior Manager on call, who will act as Nearest Relative in the circumstances as described above. 

11. EDT Working Arrangements

At the beginning of a shift the EDSW must phone the switchboard, 0208 314 6000,to inform them that they are on duty and give them a contact number, this could be the office number at Marsala Road and/or a mobile number.

If you are starting a weekday shift, excluding Bank Holidays, you should contact switchboard at 5:00pm, if it is a weekend or Bank Holiday you should contact them at 9:00am

If Switchboard are not contacted within the first 30 minutes of a shift they will contact the EDT Team Manager

The EDSW coming on Duty on Saturday or Sunday or a Bank Holiday you will need, in addition, to contact the worker on duty the previous day to obtain a handover

Handovers are very important, details of referrals that are likely to present, alerts from daytime colleagues, continuation of established plans or intervention to ensure consistency of response, all need to be considered and covered in the handover

During the first few hours of the shift Day time colleagues and other professionals may have helpful information or referrals to pass to the EDSW. EDT always aim to prioritise returning these calls as we are aware our colleagues have been working all day and they are likely to have detailed information that would otherwise be unavailable

The EDSW will check e-mails, answer machine and fax machine for alerts and referrals. EDT do not have access to day time paper files. All referrals will be checked on ICS for any previous information, contacts and referrals. The SLAM, Patient Journey System, can be accessed via the Psychiatric Liaison Nurse and The Ladywell Unit Holder

The EDSW will maintain contact with Switchboard advising them of their movements and location, this serves a dual purpose:- in terms of health and safety but also to ensure ease of contact for any new referrals. 

End