93 2.3 The local authority Head of Service, Safeguarding Adults or equivalent, will always be the professional who authorises an LSE and will notify the responsible local authority Director or equivalent as well as explaining the reasons for it. 2.4 Once the decision is made, the senior operational manager (probably at Head of Service level or above) may, depending on the level of severity, decide to act as the Enquiry Manager (EM). Alternatively, this responsibility can be delegated to a direct report or another colleague. In the most complex and serious of cases it could be beneficial to appoint another senior manager as an Independent Chair. 3. Intervening because of the poor quality of service 3.1 This guidance is about responses within the safeguarding umbrella not what to do in response to concerns which are primarily about quality of services. Where those concerns need investigating because they are the main presenting problems responses will be led by a contract monitoring or quality and performance team. Their work will be focused on the contract standards and service specification. It may be relevant to involve both local authority and NHS Dorset commissioning. 3.2 In parallel with this the Care Quality Commission (CQC) can, through inspections and intelligence gathering, determine if regulatory standards are met and take enforcement action if necessary. In these circumstances it is likely that Safeguarding Adult Services may need to advise or become more involved because inadequate and/ or repeatedly poor-quality services can impact on safety and wellbeing of adults at risk. 3.3 Clarification about the level of risk and interventions required is essential. Once that is decided it will be equally important to decide which agency/ sector/ team takes the lead. This is crucial to the good organisation of an LSE. The lead service will assume responsibility for arranging discussions with relevant agencies that need to be involved, about who does what and when and, unless decided otherwise, for coordinating communications including feedback to and liaison with the service provider. 3.4 This ‘Multi-Agency Provider Support’ (MAPS) approach, referred to under 5. below, must be focused on providing advice and support to the provider to improve the quality of care to make the adult safe. It may also provide evidence of the efforts made by the provider to improve and prevent the need for other interventions. 3.5 This Appendix focuses on guidance and processes both generally and for specific agencies. These are important but it must be remembered that the core responsibility of any agency involved in a large-scale enquiry is the safety of adults and protecting them from harm or the risk of further harm. To this end and proportionate with an assessment of the situation, all staff will report concerns and take actions, as necessary. 4. Multi-agency working 4.1 The likelihood is that an LSE will involve a range of agencies concerned with both the protection of adults and for quality or standards of care. 4.2 Agencies likely to or may be involved include, for example, the following – Local Authority, including care managers and/ or social workers, occupational therapists, Contract Monitoring lead. ICB/ Health Trusts, including community health care services, GP, physiotherapists Dorset Police Crown Prosecution Service Commissioners of services whether, from health or the local authority, may be involved but will certainly need to be briefed. This is not an exhaustive list.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTIyMzU=