"Social care is beset with challenges including stubbornly high staff vacancy rates and rising demand. We continue to ignore this at our peril.

"This strategy could be the turning point we so greatly need. It provides a clear vision to bolster the workforce and put the sector on a sustainable footing.  

"We welcome the call for a more integrated workforce, which would help provide more personalised and preventative care in the community for our ageing population with increasingly complex needs.

"The government now has a critical opportunity to make inroads on social care reform by supporting and funding this strategy.

"Failure to act would have a catastrophic impact on those who give and receive care, unpaid carers and the wider health and care system.

"The NHS and social care go hand in hand. If both do not function properly, neither one will."