Out-of-hours social service support

Bexley operates an out-of-hours emergency service evenings and weekends to ensure help is always available.

When does the service operate?

Monday to Thursday 6pm to 8am, and from 6pm Friday through to Monday 8am.

To access the service simply telephone 020 8303 7777.

Requests for assistance are taken by the Council's emergency control officer who will alert the duty social worker immediately. Requests are prioritised by the duty social worker. Response times will vary but we aim to make an initial contact within 20 minutes.

The team

The team consists of three experienced and qualified senior social workers chosen for their ability to respond positively to persons experiencing a crisis, and a team leader to whom any comments or enquiries regarding the service can be addressed.

Each weekday from 6pm until 8am, every weekend and Bank Holiday, there is a senior social worker from the Emergency Duty team available for people who require help from social services to deal with an urgent crisis or problem arising out of hours.

Who can use this service?

We provide an emergency social work service for situations which arise out of normal office hours for:

• Older people
• People with mental health problems
• People with learning disabilities
• People with physical disabilities
• Children and young people
• Families and carers of all these groups

We aim to:

• Provide an effective, high quality emergency social work service, responding to a wide range of people in crisis in order to meet their urgent needs out of hours
• Respond to new situations which arise after offices close at 6pm each weekday through to 8am the next working day. These should be urgent situations needing a response that cannot wait until offices re-open

What do we do?

As an out-of-hours service we carry out urgent assessments of adults, young people and children. We also:

• Advise, counsel and inform in order to make or keep situations safe until the next working day when services resume
• Assist clients/service users in identifying and resolving the problems they present and providing the services they need
• Liaise with other agencies out of hours
• Do not provide an alternative to the more fully resourced daytime services
• Do not take messages for daytime services, although messages may arise as part of our work