The night watch and the morning after – experiences of working for an emergency duty team

Abstract

This paper outlines and discusses the provision of Social Services responses to urgent needs arising out of day time office hours. The structure and workings of the Emergency Duty Team covering the County of Buckinghamshire are considered along with the crucial needs for team members to prioritise under pressure and to be supportively aware of one another. A thirty hour period over a busy weekend is described and analysed to highlight the kind of issues which typically face workers in Emergency Duty Teams. The paper concludes with a consideration of the motivations of those attracted to working in an Emergency Duty Team and an acknowledgement of the prevailing uncertainty which is intrinsic to the work.