Richard Hawkes, chair of the Care and Support Alliance, said:
“The care system is on its knees. Integration of health and social care is an important part of the solution.
“The Better Care Fund is also about finding savings in a chronically underfunded system.
“It’s really important that those savings are realised. As the Barker Commission recently concluded, additional funding for social care is both essential and affordable.
“The Government’s bold and positive care reforms are at real risk. It comes at a critical moment, as the Government prepares to reveal who will get free care under the new system.
“We’re really worried that hundreds of thousands of people who need care, won’t get it. Without that support people become isolated, risk slipping into crisis and ending up in A&E.
“The fundamental issue is funding. The care system needs to be properly funded. Government must now listen to that message, and make the hard choices about where that money should come from.”