• Public Accounts Committee publish report on integration of health and social care
• Committee describe Better Care Fund as a “ruse” and say that it has made no progress in reducing emergency admissions or delayed transfers of care
• We say long term solution to social care funding must bring together NHS trusts and local authorities

The Public Accounts Committee has published its report on integrating health and social care.

The Committee suggests that the Better Care Fund is “little more than a ruse” to paper over funding pressures and attacks the “casual attitude” to targets for reducing emergency admissions and delayed transfers of care.

The report suggests that integration must now be delivered in the context of the sustainability and transformation planning process.

Responding to the findings by the PAC on the integration of health and social care, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:

“This report shines a spotlight on the poor performance of the Better Care Fund in addressing how we fund and support social care services as part of an integrated health and care system.

“While the fund has helped to forge closer links, it cannot by itself deliver more integrated care, better services or significant financial savings. The Committee today described it as a “ruse” which masks the overall reduction in the funding for these services. We are particularly concerned that the fund will be used to direct the additional £1bn social care funding, announced in the budget, to the frontline.

This report shines a spotlight on the poor performance of the Better Care Fund in addressing how we fund and support social care services as part of an integrated health and care system.

“There are inextricable links between health and social care. Evidence shows that integrated services can provide a better experience and improved outcomes for patients. However it is less clear how much – if at all - this reduces costs or pressures on hospitals.

“We agree that there is a need for a clear and agreed assessment of the cost of social care to the NHS. We also need a long-term and sustainable funding solution that brings together NHS trusts and local authorities.”