Children and Families, Contact Swindon
Emergency Duty Service
The Emergency Duty Service (EDS) provides an emergency contact point for all aspects of social work in Swindon outside normal office hours, including nights, weekends and bank holidays.
For help during normal office hours:
- Children’s safeguarding: 01793 464646
- Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5.00pm
- Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
- Adult safeguarding: 01793 445500
- Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8.30am to 5.00pm
- Tuesday 8.30am to 4.00pm
- Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
For help outside of normal office hours:
- For both children and adult safeguarding, call 01793 445500 and choose option 4 to reach the out-of-hours Emergency Duty Safeguarding team
- The out-of-hours team is available:
- Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 5.00pm to 8.30am
- Tuesday 4.00pm to 8.30am (adult) and 5.00pm to 8.30am (children)
- Friday 4.30pm to 8.30am the following working day
- 24 hours a day on bank holidays
Who is the service for?
The service offers help and advice for urgent individual or family problems that need immediate social work attention. This includes:
- children in need of protection
- immediate concerns about children, their safety and well-being
- acute mental health problems
- older people at risk
- immediate concerns about a person with a learning or physical disability
If you are facing housing or financial difficulties, the EDS can connect you with someone who can help.
What happens when you contact EDS?
When you contact the EDS, here’s what you can expect:
- You will speak directly with a senior staff member experienced in handling crisis situations
- If you leave a message, the team will call you back as soon as possible
- The team will provide you with information and advice to help you manage the immediate crisis
- If another organisation can better assist with your situation, the team will help you get in touch with them
Further information
For more details about safeguarding services, visit the Swindon Safeguarding Partnership website.