An emergency social work service at night, weekends and bank holidays, to help with personal, family or accommodation problems.
What do we do?
The Emergency Duty Team provides an emergency social work service for the four authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire at night, at weekends and bank holidays.
We're here to help you with personal, family or accommodation problems which reach a crisis at these times, and cannot wait until the next working day.
What sort of problems?
- Difficulties with children and young people
- Concern about a child outside your family
- Acute mental health problems
- Older people at risk
- Concerns about a person with a disability
- Emergency housing advice
If you have financial difficulties, we're unlikely to be able to help directly, but may be able to put you in touch with the Benefits Agency out of hours service.
Who can phone us?
Anyone can phone us; individuals or their families, friends, or carers, and staff working for statutory or voluntary agencies.
Who will answer the phone?
An experienced social worker who's confident in dealing with crisis situations. There's always at least one person in the office, but because we have three phone lines they may be busy with another call when you telephone. Please leave a message on the answerphone with your contact details and you'll be contacted as soon as possible.
What happens next?
It's hard to think straight when there's a crisis, and many callers can be helped by advice given over the phone. If you already have a social worker, we may be able to offer advice to help you until you can make new plans with your social worker, and we'll send them a message to let them know what has happened. If you do not have a social worker, we can refer you to your local daytime social work team if this would help your situation.
Because we have only one or two staff available to visit across the whole area out of hours, we try to sort things out over the phone if possible. If a visit is necessary, we will do our best to offer this service, wherever you live within the four Authorities. If your problem is urgent and we cannot visit because we are busy elsewhere, we will advise you how to obtain immediate help. We always work very closely with other agencies such as the police, health care professionals and voluntary organisations to provide the best possible service.
Contact us
Call 01454 615 165.
All phone calls are recorded for training and support.
If English isn't your first language
If English is not your first language, the Emergency Duty Team will arrange for an interpreter so you can tell them about your concerns.
If you're deaf or hard of hearing
If you're deaf or hard of hearing, text your name and message to 60066. Your texts should cost your standard network charge.
You'll be sent an immediate reply to confirm that your text has been received.
A Emergency Duty Team Officer will contact you by text to discuss your concerns. This should happen within 30 minutes, although during busy periods this may take longer.