On-Call Quick Guide

This is a brief guide for quick reference while you're on call. It summarises the key points from on-call training. Use it as a refresher if you've done the training and want a reminder, or as a first orientation if you're new to being on call. A more detailed policy is being developed to sit behind this guide; please speak to your line manager or Dan Northover when in doubt about what to do.

The on-call rotas

We currently run two rotas. The Hummingbird rota is covered by the Hummingbird team leads, given the complexity of the scenarios involved; if you're not on that team, you're very unlikely to be asked to cover it. The Engage rota covers Tyne & Wear, Durham, and Middlesbrough together. This means more ground to cover when you're on call for Engage, but you'll be on call less often as a result.

Before you go on call

Before covering a shift, make sure you have:

• Key safe information for every property you may get a call from.
• Camera access tested in advance: don't find out a login fails at 2am.
• The EDT number for every area you're covering that night.
• Manager contact details, and a clear sense of when you'd need to escalate to them.
• Emergency contractor information, gas and electricity guidance, and a registered supermarket app or delivery service.
• Laptop and Airtable access for every resident in your area; your phone alone won't always be enough.
• Your preferred on-call number confirmed in advance, and know how to get the line transferred to it correctly.
• A signposting guide for your area, saved somewhere you can actually find it at short notice.

If you're missing any of this, speak to a manager in advance so you're properly set up before you're on call. It's also worth knowing the basics of troubleshooting common issues in the properties you cover, as this can save an unnecessary call-out. Talk to your team about the quirks of your properties and what's worked before.

Step 1: First contact and assessing risk

Pause and respond, rather than panic and react. Before deciding anything, think through:

• What's the actual risk?
• What information do I need to understand the situation properly?
• Can this be resolved safely without attending? (This is always our preference, while still being ready to attend if genuinely needed.)
• Am I responding to pressure, or to genuine urgency? Pressure might come from you, particularly if you're new to being on call, or from a determined young person. Agreeing to everything asked of you isn't the same as keeping someone safe.

Aim to respond to first contact within 30 minutes. It's fine to tell a young person you're going to look into things and call them back shortly, rather than deciding under pressure with them on the line.

Step 2: Check the safety plan, curfew and visitors

Review the safety plan to understand any known risks: violence, aggression, substance use, or community issues. Every young person has their own individual curfew, agreed with them; not a blanket 11pm default. Check what someone's actual curfew is rather than assuming. We don't track every young person's return; that isn't feasible. For a small number of young people with a specific, known risk, a safety plan may set a fixed return time; check for this.

The safety plan will also list safe contacts approved to visit, and may include restrictions on providing food or other items. If you're not sure where to find a young person's information, ask a manager in advance.

Step 3: Decide the response

Consider the full range of options before attending in person:

• Remote advice, reassurance, or problem-solving over the phone.
• Signposting to the right service.
• A planned check-in (this doesn't have to be you, as long as the handover is clear).
• An in-person visit. This is the exception, not the default, and only once you've confirmed it's safe and the on-call manager knows you're lone working.

If you do need to attend somewhere unfamiliar, do a quick location risk assessment: think about parking, lighting, and consider carrying a personal alarm between the car and the property.

Contact EDT for advice or to report a concern whenever you're unsure. You will never get into trouble for calling EDT. It's always better to call than to sit at home wondering if you should have. For a live emergency, it's always 999 first, before anything else.

Signposting

Build up familiarity over time with services like Shout, Cooth, and the Mix: text or phone support young people can access day or night. You don't need this memorised straight away; use the signposting document while you build confidence. Where you do signpost, follow up afterwards to check contact was made and what advice was given. Many services also offer safety planning over the phone or online, which can be more helpful than what we're able to offer over a call ourselves.

Calling EDT

Local authorities vary in how they want concerns reported: some by form, some by phone. EDT will typically ask for the young person's name, address, the nature of your concern, relevant background, and what's already been done. Ask for the name of the person you spoke to, and record it along with the advice given in an Airtable note.

If police or ambulance are meant to be involved, always confirm their attendance yourself, directly. Never take someone else's word for it. Don't enter a property until you know for certain the right people are already there.

When to call a manager

Not every situation needs manager contact. Use your professional judgement, and lean more on EDT as your confidence grows. Contact a manager for:

• High-risk situations or major safeguarding concerns.
• Significant uncertainty about safety, yours or the young person's.
• Serious incidents, such as domestic abuse or a serious assault.

For very severe circumstances (a fire, an attempted suicide, a death), bypass any other manager and go straight to Dan.

For an ongoing emergency, always contact EDT and the police first; don't let looping in a manager slow that down. When you do call a manager, it helps to come with a plan already in mind: "I'm considering doing X, because Y and Z; can you confirm I've covered everything?" Managers are there to support your decision-making, not to replace your judgement. If you can't reach your manager and need an urgent response, escalate to Dan.

Recording and handover

• Record notes in a timely way, ideally the same night; your on-call pay covers this, not just the call itself. Complete notes before the day team starts at 8:30am.
• Tag the relevant colleagues and managers directly in your notes; don't assume a note alone means people will see it.
• Use the on-call box on Airtable to track out-of-hours responses.
• Follow up with the social worker or young person's adviser, and copy in managers.
• Any messages to a young person should always come from your work number, even if they've contacted your personal number.
• Make sure the handover to whoever's picking things up next is genuinely clear about anything still unresolved.

Looking after yourself

If a call or visit has been distressing, ask for a debrief; this is a normal part of the process, not an extra ask. Don't hold things alone, and don't go to bed worried about a decision you've made, as we'd always rather hear from you. A lone working app is in development, which will let you log when you're heading to a property and escalate automatically if you don't check back in. In the meantime, WhatsApp is fine for non-urgent updates, but ring rather than text if you need an urgent response, especially after 10pm.

Five things to hold onto

1. Attendance is the exception. You are not expected to attend every time.
2. Be safe first, always.
3. Signpost to the right service, genuinely, not to pass the buck.
4. 999, then EDT, then manager: Dan if there's no response.
5. Follow up and record, every time, even when nothing happened.

Key reminders

• Set a reminder for both ends of your shift (4:30pm and 8:30am).
• Confirm your on-call number well in advance.
• If you're not on call, turn your phone off and let the WhatsApp Business bounce-back do its job.
• Complete lone working training before requesting a place on the rota.