Emergency help for the person you care for

Telecare/Careline and emergency alarms are 24 hour emergency monitoring systems that can help older and vulnerable people to remain living independently and safely in their own homes.

Telecare and Careline equipment and emergency alarms

If you care for someone who cannot look after themselves without your support, you may be worried about what you would do and how you would react in an emergency.

There are a number of ways you can respond and get the help that you need.

GPs

Always keep the phone number for your local GP handy. Out of normal surgery hours, most surgeries have an answering machine message referring you to out-of-hours telephone numbers.

NHS Direct

Phone for medical advice on 0845 4647.

Accident & Emergency

Go to the Accident & Emergency Department (A&E) at Kingston Hospital (main switchboard phone number: 020 8546 7711) or West Middlesex University Hospital (main switchboard phone number: 020 8560 2121) and explain your difficulty. Teddington Memorial Hospital has a walk-in centre and Queen Mary's Roehampton has a Minor Injuries Unit but neither has A&E.

Emergency Services

In an emergency ring 999 for immediate help from Ambulance, Fire or Police.

Adult Social Care

In an emergency out of normal office hours contact the Out Of Hours Service. A trained Social Worker will speak to you over the phone to assess the situation and help you to make emergency cover arrangements.

Planning ahead for emergencies

Forward planning can help to take the 'emergency' out of the situation for you if you’re suddenly unable to help the person you care for. See what help is available for you in an emergency to find out more about the Carers Emergency Alert Card and Carers First Alert schemes.

More information

Our Carers Directory(pdf, 598KB) contains information on all aspects of caring.