Emergency Placement and Emergency Reviews

If a placement is required within 24 hours of the referral being shared from the Local Authority, to the Referral Manager, this is deemed as an emergency placement.

The registered person of the home cannot admit children in an emergency unless they are registered to do so, therefore this capacity will be explicitly included as a function and written into the home's Statement of Purpose. The home will need to show it is capable to care for children admitted at very short notice while continuing to offer high quality care.

Where it is within the Home's Statement of Purpose the Registered Manager will ensure that procedures are in place for receiving emergency placements. They will have a detailed routine, with which all members of staff are familiar.

The routine will include having:

• A check list for admissions readily available;
• A vacant bedroom with appropriate facilities, in a state of readiness;
• Easy to prepare basic food and drink accessible for staff to prepare day or night;
• A strategy for the redeployment of staff to deal with the emergency admission.

Registered Managers of our homes should ensure that where an emergency admission takes place a planning meeting also known as an Emergency Review is held within 72 hrs, see Section 2, Criteria and Timing for Emergency Reviews.

Referrals will be received predominately via an online referral email system and the allocated telephone number; out of hours this will be covered by the on-call managers to ensure a 24-hour referral access, including emergency referral requests.

If the decision is made to place a young person into residential accommodation by a Local Authority and that placement is required within 24hrs, the Referral Manager will notify the Registered Manager/ Deputy / On-Call Manager as soon as reasonably practical.

In the event of a referral for an Emergency Placement, the person receiving/administering the referral should do all that is reasonable to follow the normal admissions procedures. (When an emergency placement is requested out of hours then the on call senior manager should be consulted prior to accepting the referral.)

Any decision to admit a child in an emergency must be based on an assessment of the available information and,  based upon this available information, it must be concluded that the child's needs are likely to be met by the home.

The nominated manager will commence the suitability process with relevant plans and information available; it is deemed that the Initial Referral document and Risk-Assessment must be received so that the Placement Questionnaire and Placement Impact Matrix can be completed.

It is the responsibility of the nominated manager to ascertain the current relevant information from the placing authority. This enables them to make an informed professional judgement whether we can provide the child with a suitable placement.

Given the time constraints, the risk assessments is likely to be carried out from information provided over the phone, e-mail or facsimile. Referral forms need to be completed and received before the young person is admitted despite the time pressures with emergency placements.

As a minimum, the following information will be required at the time of the placement:

• The contact arrangements that may be permitted between the child and his parents, siblings, relatives and friends – no contact may be allowed without the approval of the social worker or as set out in the child's Placement Plan;
• A copy of the child's Health Care Plan or, if this is not available, details of any healthcare or medical needs/requirements that the home should be aware of e.g. Home Remedies or Medication that the child may require, see Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure;
• Copies or information relating to any Court Orders that may be required or influence the child's placement e.g. if the child is subject to a Remand.

The person administering this process must keep a record of the matters that are not undertaken, and pass this to the chair of the Emergency Review (see Section 2, Criteria and Timing for Emergency Reviews), so that they can be followed up.

On occasions there are referrals received where the Referral Officer/Nominated Manager will review the information and assess that the referral does not meet the homes’ SOP’s. The placing authority will be contacted by the on call manager (if out of hours) or Referral Officer to inform them that there is no bed availability to meet the needs and requirements for the young person being referred.

See Admission and Transition Policy for admission process once the placement is agreed.

The overall purpose of the Emergency Review is to consider whether the placement is suitable for the child; having regard for the child and the other children in the placement.

The views of the child, parents and others should be accounted for; but the decision should be made by the social worker and Home Manager or chairperson.

The matters which should be considered are:

1. The likely appropriateness of the placement in meeting the child's needs, as set out in the Care Plan or Pathway Plan in the context of the Statement of Purpose for the home;
2. Whether the placement of the child may adversely affect any other children in the placement.

If it is decided that the placement is suitable then the Placement Plan should be updated to reflect this decision.

If there is a view that the placement is appropriate but  that additional support is required to make it entirely suitable, the Placement Plan should be updated to reflect this.

In both the above situations, it is essential that the Home Manager obtain relevant consents to emergency medical care/treatment before the meeting is concluded.

If there are concerns that the placement is not suitable, even with additional support, consideration should be given to the following:

1. The child remaining in the placement until a more suitable placement can be found; in which case, the Placement Plan should be updated to reflect this decision;
2. The immediate ending of the placement, in which case no Placement Plan is necessary.

If the Placement Plan cannot be completed sufficient to sustain the child until the first Looked After Review, the chairperson must arrange for a Placement Plan Review to occur within 7 days so that the plan can be completed.

If this is necessary, the chairperson must agree what further information is required in time for the Placement Plan Review.

Where the placement has been agreed to be sufficient to sustain the child the following apply:

1. Information for Children and Notifications;
2. Health Care;
3. Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements, see Admission and Transition Procedure, Support, Monitoring and Ending of Placements.

Relevant Plans

In the event of emergency referrals, the Placement Plan should be received within 5 working days of the placement beginning.

Children Placed outside the area where they normally live

Unless that authority is also the child’s placing authority, the placing authority must give written notification to the area authority of the arrangement if the placement is made in an emergency within five days of the start of the placement unless it is not practicable to do so.

The notification must state:

• The child’s name and date of birth;
• Whether the child is Accommodated under Section 20 or subject to a Care Order or Supervision Order;
• The contact details for:
  • The child’s placing authority; and
  • The child’s Independent Reviewing Officer.
• Whether the child has an Education, Health and Care Plan and, if so, details of the local authority which maintains the Plan.

Notification of the placement must be sent by the Social Worker/Placing Authority, to all those consulted and involved in the decision-making process within 5 working days of the placement starting.

If not consulted during the decision making process, the following people/agencies must be notified:

1. The team/unit, within the Placing Authority, responsible for arranging Looked After Reviews, so that the child's first/next Looked After Review can be arranged, normally within 20 days of the child's placement;
2. The Health Trust;
3. The Local Education Authority;
4. The Children's Services Department in the area where the child is placed; these notifications must be made in writing advising of the placement decision and the name and address of the person with whom the child is to be placed.