Emergency Duty Team

Statement of Purpose of the Emergency Duty Team (EDT)

The principal responsibility of the EDT is to respond to out of hours referrals where intervention from the local authority is required to safeguard a child or adult in need or at risk, and where it would not be safe, appropriate or lawful to delay that intervention to the next working day.

The EDT may also deal with referrals, which are not assessed as emergencies but where delay before intervention by day staff could cause deterioration in the welfare or safety of the subject of the referral.

The EDT is not intended to provide the same level of service that is available during normal office hours. It does not have the resources to do so, either in terms of staff or access to information and support from partner agencies.

The EDT will be responsible for all referrals made to Children and Adults Services outside of office hours. EDT staff will follow standard departmental procedures and guidance in determining their response to those referrals.

Service Objectives

The EDT will:

1. Respond to out-of-hours referrals where it is judged that intervention is necessary to safeguard a child or adult in need or at risk, and where is judged it would not be safe, appropriate or lawful to delay that intervention until the next working day;
2. Carry out direct work with children or adults both face to face or via video link/ phone to ascertain their views, assess risk and progress urgent care planning;
3. Deal with referrals, which are not assessed as emergencies but where delay before intervention by day staff would be likely to cause deterioration in the welfare or safety of the subject of the referral;
4. Fulfil statutory requirements and all London Borough of Ealing (LBE) policies and procedures when responding to referrals;
5. Deal with referrals in order of priority and with regard to the possible consequences of delay;
6. Aim to ensure that the "best value" response is made to all referrals;
7. Ensure that referring agencies and individuals are kept fully informed as to Children and Adults Services responses and advised where there is unavoidable delay in dealing with referrals;
8. Act in compliance with statutory requirements and all London Borough of Ealing (LBE) policies and procedures in delivering a timely response to referrals made outside of office hours;
9. Deploy internal Children and Adults Services resources and acquire resources from other service providers as necessary and appropriate to meet assessed service needs;
10. Ensure that referring agencies and individuals are kept informed where there is unavoidable delay in dealing with referrals;
11. Maintain sufficient knowledge of local authority and other services to be able to screen and re-direct referrals which are not appropriate for the EDT to respond to;
12. Seek to foster good working relationships with all other out-of-hours agencies;
13. Ensure that at all times there are effective working relationships with day services;
14. Negotiate clear responsibility for cases involving other local authorities, ensuring that LBE responsibilities are always fully discharged, whether by the EDT or another authority;
15. Provide a service, which positively reflects LBE policies on equality and diversity, ensuring that services take account of issues of ethnicity, race, culture, disability, religion, sexuality and gender;
16. Ensure that all referrals made and work carried out is clearly and fully recorded in line with LBE requirements, and so as to enable day staff to progress work promptly and effectively;
17. Ensure that, where appropriate, senior officers are informed of referrals or incidents;
18. Represent Children and Adults Services positively to service users and all other agencies and organisations, using delegated authority appropriately.

Service Standards

The EDT will meet the following service standards in line with guidance issued by the Regulatory Authority:

1. Service users will receive a prompt and effective out of hours response, which is adequate to deal with the need referred and is sufficient to support service users until mainstream services can be provided, if necessary;
2. The Children and Adults Departments will maintain a clearly written, up-to-date and comprehensive policy for securing emergency out of hours services;
3. The Children and Adults Departments will work collaboratively with other agencies, and Departments, to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the provision of emergency out of hours services;
4. Out of hours assessments will be sufficient to determine the nature and extent of the response, which will then be provided promptly;
5. Emergency out of hour's services will be sensitive to issues of ethnicity, race, religion, language, culture, gender and disability and sexuality;
6. EDT staff will be appropriately recruited, trained, deployed and supervised;
7. The Children and Adults Departments will provide an organisational structure and management support to ensure the delivery of effective emergency out of hours services

Working Arrangements between EDT and Day Staff

The EDT Team Manager and Deputy Team Manager will be responsible for ensuring that there are good operational links between the EDT and day services.

Responsibility for Referrals

The EDT is only responsible for dealing with referrals, which are initially made outside office hours. Day staff should complete all work where the initial referral was made before 17.00hrs.

Where day staff consider that they are unable to complete a piece of work, the EDT may exceptionally take this on. However, it is essential for day staff to speak directly to the EDT officer on duty to negotiate this. Where appropriate day staff should leave a telephone number on which they can be contacted after 17.00hrs.

It is not acceptable for day staff to leave a message asking for the EDT to complete a piece of work. If the day staff cannot speak to the EDT worker, then it must be assumed that the work will not be undertaken by the EDT.

It is part of the role of the EDT to help and support day staff who are working outside normal hours. Any colleague working after normal hours can contact the EDT for advice, information, resources, or assistance.

Criteria for Referral to EDT

The EDT is principally responsible for providing an emergency service in situations where there is a real and immediate threat to life, safety, health, or liberty. Additionally, the EDT will seek to provide a service where delay could cause deterioration in the welfare or safety of the subject of the referral.

It is therefore not appropriate to make referrals to the EDT for routine monitoring of service users or carers out of hours. The EDT cannot guarantee to be available for this purpose, which must be covered in general care planning for a case.

As outlined above, it will be unusual for day staff to make a referral for action, as the expectation is that day staff will normally complete work in which they are involved.

When day staff do need to make a referral, the worker should ring the EDT contact number, leaving a telephone number on which they are available after 17.00hrs and the EDT officer on duty will contact them as soon as possible after coming on duty.

"Alerts" for EDT from Day Staff

There will be occasions when day staff need to alert the EDT to referrals which may arise, giving background information and indicating a course of action which they would like the EDT to take. Contact details for an appropriate officer should normally be included. These "alerts" should be completed online and emailed to EDTALERTS@ealing.gov.uk. The EDT co-ordinator will check the EDTALERTS mailbox at the beginning of each shift. In addition, day staff will maintain contemporaneous records on Mosaic (Ealing) or LAS/ LCS (Hounslow) with any contingency planning made explicit to ensure that out of hours actions are appropriate.

Communication of EDT Referrals to Day Staff

At the end of each EDT duty period, it is the responsibility of the EDT officer who has dealt with a referral to complete an EDT report on Mosaic (Ealing) LAS/ LCS (Hounslow) outlining follow up actions needed, and to send a notification to the appropriate team via mosaic or LAS/ LCS. Any referrals which cannot be input to the system due to system outrage or client not being known on the system should be sent via email to the EDT Administrators by 09.30 the following working day. Where a case is rag rated red (priority 1) this should be made explicit in the email subject heading.

The EDT Administrators will then forward all EDT referrals to the appropriate locality team(s) through Mosaic or email, for day staff managers and senior care managers to follow up. This will be done by 10am for cases which are rag rated red (for urgent follow up).

Where urgent follow-up is required of day staff, the EDT officer may need to ring the appropriate duty team/ECIRS to confirm actions required.

The receiving office must confirm receipt of all EDT referrals, by email, Mosaic or phone.

Staffing

The EDT consists of 1 Team manager, 1 Deputy Team Manager (Practice Manager) 7 (Full Time Equivalent) Social Worker posts and two half-time (17.5hrs each) Administrators as well as sessional staff.

The Team Manager reports to the Head of Service – ECIRS and EDT.

Rota

The 8-week rolling rota sets out the core shifts in each EDT team members working pattern.

The EDT Team Manager is responsible for drawing up the rota and agreeing any swaps, changes, leave, overtime and working sessions for As and When Required staff.

The EDT service is operational between 17.00hrs and 09:00hrs Monday to Friday, and at weekends from Friday at 17.00hrs through to 09:00hrs on Monday. The service is extended to cover Bank Holidays and other public holidays.

Shifts are organised so that three social workers are on duty during the busiest periods. Currently there is one social worker on duty between the hours of 01.00hrs and 09.00hrs.

The shift patterns for the EDT have been reviewed and take account of European Working Time Directives and interests of Health and Safety guidance.

Working Hours

EDT workers are bound by Local Government Terms and Conditions of Service as set by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. Working arrangements will comply with relevant Health and Safety legislation, including the European working time directive and its associated UK legislation.

Shifts patterns are organised into blocks of 8 hours, and as per Local Terms and Conditions of Service employees must take an unpaid break of 30 minutes within 6 hours of starting work. This means that shifts will be expected to finish 30 minutes after the 8-hour shift period leaving time for robust handovers between shifts/ services. Where it suits the needs of the service social workers may negotiate a longer unpaid break of up to 2 hours during any shift and complete their hours flexibly.

Where business needs require this, additional working hours can be worked and time off in lieu granted by the designated manager. This must be agreed by the manager and once worked the employee must either be allowed to take the TOIL or if this is not practical will be paid for the additional hours at the appropriate rate.

All core hours are spent on shift, averaging out to the weekly salaried hours apart from one hour per week which is assigned to 13 (3 hour) team meetings per year and 1 hour of supervision per week (or 1.5 hours 6 weekly). Additional mandatory and agreed training are arranged as overtime or TOIL.

Remote/ Home Working

EDT workers may choose to be based at Home rather than from Perceval House. Home working is dependent on having good phone and wi-fi connectivity and being accessible to attend duty visits and assessments within Ealing and Hounslow boroughs within a reasonable timeframe. At times system access may require workers to attend Perceval House. Any business travel will be calculated from Perceval House for the purposes of travel claims and if opting to work from home, travel into the borough will not be counted within paid work time. Perceval House constitutes the place of work for EDT employees. The Council however, recognises that for some or all of a shift, it is possible for an individual staff member to work from home. This arrangement will be supported as long as the Team and Head of Service are satisfied that such arrangements will not adversely affect service delivery and subject to the following conditions:

The home base must not be further than 60 minutes travel (at any time of the day) from the EDT base and it is not aggregable for the duty worker to be anywhere which is more than 60 minutes from the EDT base.

The home base must have a good broadband connection as this will allow the on call SW to receive referrals from the call centre and access the social care databases required for their work and must also have clear mobile phone access as this allows the SW to make and receive calls pertaining to any cases referred.

If there is any difficulty accessing the Council’s systems or making calls from home, the SW must attend the base for their shift.

The home base must be separate from the distractions of normal household life.

This means that whilst processing referrals/ taking a call/working on a case, it is essential that this is conducted away from any noise caused by the television, radio, or other members of the household.

Employees should refer to the Council’s information on security policies for further guidance about ICT security.

Remote communication has become an increasingly useful means of connecting staff; but has not replaced the need to come together as a team in person. Team meetings and training will be arranged both virtually and in person with at least quarterly meetings being arranged on site at Perceval House/ another borough base. Successful remote meetings depend on good connectivity and use of both video and audio facilities; headphones can be used to limit background noise. Video conference team meetings are to be treated as an in-person meeting with an expectation that team members will be in a private space (or at the office) and that team members can all see and hear each other and are able to participate effectively.

Resource files and updated information about services will be held remotely in EDT files and all team members are responsible for updating their colleagues when they come across new information and resources.

Annual Leave

Annual leave must be agreed by the Team Manager, giving as much notice as possible. Requests for leave at short notice will be accommodated wherever possible, subject to the exigencies of the service.

Sickness

Where a social worker is unable to start or complete a shift because of illness, they must advise the Team Manager/Deputy Team Manager at the beginning of any sickness period to facilitate the arrangement of duty cover.

Working Arrangements

The EDT service will normally be provided by two/three social workers on duty together. They work together and with the switchboard workers to ensure that a quick and appropriate response is made to all referrals and that referrals are dealt with in order of priority.

Each peak-time eight hour shift is normally staffed by a shift coordinator and one or two duty social workers. The shift coordinator is responsible for taking all calls and emails from the switchboards, prioritising them and allocating to a duty social worker or themselves having regard to equity of workload. The shift coordinator will contact referrers to advise them of delay times during busy periods.

The duty social workers will take responsibility for progressing allocated work, consulting the shift coordinator when necessary. They will take decisions as to when it is appropriate to arrange for the client to be visited or whether the work can safely be dealt with by phone and keep the shift coordinator apprised of their movements.

Communication Systems

The shift coordinator will receive email referrals through their inbox whilst on duty. There is an expectation that both the Emergency Duty Reception inbox and EDT alert inbox are monitored regularly by the shift coordinator to ensure no referrals are missed. As generic inboxes are routinely used by EDT staff there is an expectation that EDT workers sign their name to any email that they respond to for transparency.

Good communication is key to successful out of hours working and social workers on duty together may consult with each other to facilitate robust decision making. Courteous and timely communication between duty workers on shift together is a key expectation to facilitate team working. As a minimum, social workers reporting onto the same shift will make telephone contact with the shift coordinator, respond to emails promptly and confirm any visits that are being carried out so that the shift coordinator has an overview of activity undertaken and can check on staff movements in line with the lone working policy.

Because much of EDT communication is reliant on access to computer systems, EDT staff are expected to ensure that they maintain access to all required systems including email, Mosaic, LCS, LAS and Rio. EDT staff are required to log on to all required systems on at least a monthly basis to ensure that passwords and connectivity remains up to date.

All decisions involving expenditure of any resources will be discussed with the shift coordinator and where expenditure exceeds usual limits this may be approved by the EDT Manager/ Deputy Manager.

For the period covered by the EDT service, when it is scheduled that only one social worker will be on duty, there will be occasions (e.g., when that worker is out on a call) when referrals will be held by the switchboard and the response time cannot be determined. In such circumstances the social worker will endeavour to keep the switchboard informed of their movements and availability.

It will be the aim of the EDT to speak to the person making a referral within thirty minutes of the referral being received from the switchboard by EDT staff. When this is not possible the shift coordinator will aim to ensure that the referrer is kept informed of the likely availability time of the EDT worker.

EDT workers will endeavour to maintain good working relationships with key partners including service users, their families and carers, police, health professionals, foster carers and other professional carers through robust and transparent communication, advice, and signposting. EDT is sometimes the first point of contact from social services to a service user and a positive interaction can help foster a helpful relationship with social care going forward.

When it is decided that a worker will make a community visit, they must inform the shift coordinator or a colleague (or when this is not immediately possible, the switchboard should be informed) of the place of the visit and a brief nature of the referral. Staff members must always follow Lone Worker policies including maintaining a charged mobile phone when conducting visits in the community, updating shift coordinator on their movements, and expected duration of any community visit and checking any risk information held on file prior to carrying out a visit. Generally urgent community visits to unstaffed premises will be carried out with the police and where a visit to an unstaffed community base is deemed necessary a decision will be made in conjunction with the shift coordinator/ EDT manager as to whether this needs to be a joint visit.

At the start and finish of a working shift each EDT social worker will act to ensure continuity and good communications. At the start of the shift the shift coordinator will communicate with the switchboard within a maximum of fifteen minutes of the commencement of the shift. They will also communicate with any colleague already on duty to ensure that they are aware of any referrals or information received. At the completion of a shift each EDT worker will ensure that reports on all referrals received are completed and forwarded as appropriate.

When one EDT shift is followed directly by another, the shift coordinator and social workers should normally contact each other as appropriate to hand over any work which needs completion, and to advise of any referrals, which may occur or reoccur.

Recording

All actions undertaken by EDT staff will be recorded contemporaneously either directly onto the relevant Ealing/ Hounslow IT system or onto the borough EDT report form/ AMHP report form. Recording will be compliant with GDPR principles of lawfulness, fairness, and transparency. Referrals will be logged on the EDT log to ensure all activity is captured.  All reports will record the time and contact details of all persons contacted in the course of assessing actions needing to be taken. The relevant content of such contacts will be summarised and reasons for any decisions made will be stated.

EDT staff represent Ealing and Hounslow social services out of hours and as such will clarify where they have started processes relating to safeguarding investigations including strategy meetings, case discussions or interviews with service users or carers and the outcomes of such interventions. This is to avoid duplication and to ensure that there is a smooth transition into day services and that required follow up actions are clear.

Management Cover

A rota of senior officers ensures that advice and assistance is available to EDT officers. The EDT Team Manager or her deputy is also normally available to the EDT officers on duty.

Supervision, Appraisals, Performance Management and Training

The EDT Team Manager and Deputy Team Manager will be responsible for the individual supervision, appraisals and performance management of EDT officers in line with LBE standard procedures, requirements and expectations. Training and development plans for each officer will be agreed through these processes, always ensuring as a priority that staff are adequately equipped, qualified, and supported to carry out emergency duties across all service user groups

EDT team members are responsible for participating effectively in supervision and using peer supervision to maintain and advance their professional development.

EDT team members are responsible for ensuring that their knowledge and skills are updated through ensuring they read through information that has been circulated and applying for appropriate training to maintain their professional practice. Any “down time” on shift may be used in this way for professional development, as well as perusing in house training opportunities, listening to webinars, completing mandatory e-learning, updating themselves on resources, and recording their CPD as per their Social Work England registration requirements.

The EDT manager and Deputy Team Manager will monitor/review quality of referrals to locality teams and regularly meet with day team managers to provide feedback and share necessary information.

Sessional staff play an important part in the smooth running of the EDT service and may seek advice as appropriate from the shift coordinator. A monthly peer supervision group is available to all As and When Required EDT staff who are encouraged to attend.

Team Meetings

The EDT Manager will be responsible for ensuring that Team Meetings are arranged at least once a month, during normal office hours – currently last Thursday of the month from 11am – 2pm. EDT officers are required to attend and fully participate in all Team Meetings as part of their core hours. As above, team meetings may be arranged virtually or in person and where these are arranged through video conferencing team members are responsible for ensuring that they have connectivity to enable full participation.

Each year there are 13 team meetings of 3 hours each factored into each EDT workers core hours. These include the monthly 3-hour team meeting plus an additional 3-hour service level meeting to be arranged to suit the needs of the team. There is an expectation that all EDT social workers will attend most team meetings; but may occasionally use annual leave/ toil where attendance for a meeting/ part meeting is not feasible.

Quality Assurance

The EDT Team Manager will be responsible for developing and implementing a range of measures which ensure that the quality of the service provided by the EDT is of a high standard and routinely monitored. These measures will include the routine collection and analysis of agreed management information, regular audits of individual cases, and questionnaires for day staff and partner agencies about their satisfaction with the EDT service. Themes from any complaints and feedback received will be used to influence service developments.

The EDT takes its’ responsibilities as corporate parent to any looked after child in Ealing/ Hounslow very seriously. Audits will look at whether the child’s voice is evident in case recording whenever a child comes to the attention of EDT.

An EDT officer will visit or otherwise engage with any child that comes to their attention where this is appropriate to ensure their safety or wellbeing and specifically where Police have exercised their powers of protection.

The EDT will aim to demonstrate a responsive service through responding to most referrals within 30 minutes and ensuring that appropriate teams are notified of follow up actions by 9.30am on the next working day in all cases.

The EDT seeks to be outcome focussed and EDT reports will be audited to ensure that clear decision making, and outcomes are recorded with a clear timeline of actions taken.

EDT social workers will consider actions that reflect principals of seeking least restrictive alternatives and take account of and record the wishes and feelings of service users who come to their attention whilst following clear legislative processes. The EDT social worker’s assessment and rationale for decisions made will be clear in their report.

EDT staff will maintain an up-to-date training log including Ealing mandatory training, yearly AMHP refresher training, and yearly Child Protection and Adult Safeguarding update training. CPD will be recorded in line with Social Work England Requirements and training and development will be discussed in supervision with plans made around any learning needs.

Social Work England Registration and Professional Standards will be maintained and followed.

Review of Operational Policy

This document will be reviewed annually by the EDT Manager and Deputy Team Manager in consultation with the team and service managers.