Out of hours service
We provide an emergency social work service out of office hours. The aim of the service is to deal with crisis situations that cannot wait until the next day.
Crisis situations include allegations of child abuse, urgent assessments of people with mental health problems or a breakdown of care arrangements for a vulnerable adult or dependant child.
Who do I call, and when?
The service runs each night and at weekends. The contact numbers are:
Phone: 01902 552999
Minicom: 01902 553929
If the situation is extremely urgent, you should call the emergency services on 999.
You can call our emergency service out of office hours - that is from 5pm until 8.30am Monday to Thursday and from 4.30pm on Fridays until 8.30am the following Monday.
The call will be answered by a central switchboard operator who will take your number and ask the social worker to call you as soon as possible. When you call us it is important that you give us as much information as you can about the person needing help. We need details including:
- full name
- date of birth
- address
- telephone number
- ethnic origin (for monitoring and statistical purposes)
- where the person is and the nature of the crisis
- services and help the person may be getting at the moment.
It is important the information is accurate. The social worker will need to put calls in order of priority at busy times. All details given to the social worker are passed on to the local social work team the next day. All calls to and from the control centre are recorded for quality control purposes.
In all cases where the emergency social work service helps people we aim to support people to stay in their homes.
Care for people with mental health problems
We will help adults with mental health problems who are suffering severe emotional distress. This may include an emergency assessment. We will make sure the person and their carer/carers are as safe as possible; should the person need medical help we will work with health staff to make sure it is provided.
Care for other vulnerable adults
We will help adults with problems that may be life threatening or who are at risk of serious injury. This may be caused by illness or frailty, or because their care arrangements have broken down. Services are also provided if a family carer or neighbour is unable to continue helping because, for example, they have become ill themselves.
Contact us
For more information contact us by either using our online form or by:
Phone: 01902 551199 (out of hours: 01902 552999)
Minicom: 01902 555554
Fax: 01902 551195