Heat-health alert for East of England

A red heat-health warning has been issued by the UKHSA. The warning is in effect from the morning of 24 June 2026 through to the night of 25 Jun 2026. Please ensure you keep up to date with weather reports reports and plan accordingly.

The Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty

You may be aware that the Supreme Court has recently issued a judgment which significantly changes the legal approach to determining whether a person is deprived of their liberty. The judgement can be seen here A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 o….

We would encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the judgment and carefully consider the implications for your services and practice. Please see the following links for further information: CQC statement on the Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty - Care Quality Commission and 2026-UKSC-16-Summary-for-website.pdf.

We ask that you refer to this updated position when making any new referrals to the DoLS team.  In addition, as the change came into effect immediately from 2 June, please review any recent DoLS referrals you have made. You should consider whether, in light of this revised approach, any of these referrals may no longer be appropriate.

We hope this offers reassurance whilst we wait for additional National guidance to be disseminated.  At this stage we don’t have further information, but if you have a specific query, you can contact the MCA DoLS Duty Team at Dolforms@essex.gov.uk

Essex County Council - Provider Hub
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Urgent Community Response Service (UCRS)

What is UCRS?

UCRS is the collective name for the community teams who respond to the crisis needs of patients in their own homes, including nursing and residential care homes, to avoid admission to hospital. 

The aim is to deliver a 2-hour rapid response service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 

The service has a range of specialists including senior nurse assessors, paramedics, prescribers, support workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and social workers, who can support the patient to remain in their home or place of residence during an episode of illness.

Each locality has an Urgent Community Response Team as detailed below.

The service covers four areas: Basildon and Brentwood, mid Essex, Thurrock, and Southend and CastlePoint and Rochford.

Call the Single Point of Access: 0344 257 3951. (In an emergency please call 999)

If you have any questions or need to discuss discharge arrangements for your residents while they are in hospital or in the 24 hours after discharge, you can be put in contact with the relevant discharge case manager on each site by using the hub email: mse.idthub@nhs.net.

Contact the Community Gateway team: communitygateway@esneft.nhs.uk 

Phone on 0300 0032 144

Please provide the following information

  • Patient details including address, DOB, NHS Number & contact numbers
  • Relevant medical history
  • Current medication
  • Comprehensive overview of patient's condition & what is required from the service
Inclusion criteria
  • Registered with a GP in west Essex
  • Aged 18+
  • At risk of imminent hospital admission
Exclusion criteria
  • Life threatening condition requiring hospital level care
  • Acute mental health crisis

West Essex Care Co-ordination Centre contact details:

Telephone 0300 123 5433

Email epunft.carecoordinationcentre.west.2023@nhs.net

Last updated: 23/09/2025