Safeguarding Adults Procedures

35 action under the procedures will continue and a multi-agency decision made about the best way to engage with the person and consider the legal powers available to intervene with the person(s) causing the harm. A decision to discontinue the Safeguarding Adults process must be agreed by all relevant organisations and recorded and signed off by the EM. The reasons for closing the Safeguarding Adults concern should be recorded and a copy sent to ERM attendees. The person raising the concern should be informed unless inappropriate to do so. The adult at risk should have a copy of the decisions that considers issues of confidentiality and the need for protection of personally identifiable information. See Appendix 9. Closing the safeguarding adult enquiry The safeguarding adult enquiry can be closed following review or when the safeguarding plan is no longer required. This will be when the adult is no longer at risk of abuse or neglect, or risks have reduced and can be managed or monitored through single agency processes, e.g. assessment and support planning processes, community policing responses, health service monitoring. An adult with capacity can opt for the safeguarding enquiry to be closed if it only concerns him/herself and no crime was committed. The Local Authority is likely to agree this where the concerns do not relate to serious harm. All decisions about concluding the safeguarding enquiry should be made by, or in agreement with, the local authority and other agencies involved, and should be recorded with the rationale for the decision. When the safeguarding enquiry is concluded, feedback on the outcomes should be shared with the following agencies/individuals as appropriate:  The adult.  Their representative or advocate.  The person / agency who raised the safeguarding concern.  The person / agency who were identified as the potential source of risk.  Key partner agencies.  Any other involved stakeholder agency/individual. The consent of the adult to share information should be gained, and usual information sharing rules apply. See Appendix 9 – Information Sharing. Resolution of Disagreements Where disagreements from any agency cannot be resolved by discussions between front line workers or attendees at meetings, the issue should be raised with line managers or Safeguarding Adult Leads, who will try to resolve differences and prevent delays. If they can’t resolve the issue, it can be escalated further. Disagreements, whilst most uncommon, can arise at any point. They may relate to circumstances where there is a decision to be made about how a particular concern, or set of concerns, is responded to or related to the way processes are dealt with. In general terms, the local authority has the final responsibility for safeguarding but will always seek to ensure its decisions and reasons are as transparent as possible. Guidance for professional staff from different agencies and who disagree about actions taken or to be taken is at Appendix 21