In response to a new survey by Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), showing increases in delivered care failing to keep pace with growing needs, Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said:

"The report by ADASS highlights yet again the urgent need to properly fund and reform the adult social care system.

"Adult social care is in a worrying place. To ensure that people can receive the care and support they need to lead the lives they want to, the government must put social care on a sustainable footing with enough funding to back meaningful reform.

"Social care and the NHS are interdependent. Pressure on overstretched NHS services is felt by social care services. Both need sustainable, long-term funding and staffing.

"A national focus on supporting timely discharge from hospital is important but shouldn't be at the expense of the sector's ability to help people to stay well at home, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions.

"Social care colleagues are working hard to reduce the number of people waiting for assessment, care and support but hundreds of thousands of people are still in the queue, piling pressure on unpaid carers left to support loved ones.

"More must be done so that people can get the right support at the right time and to stabilise the social care market. Adult social care leaders are under extreme financial pressure, with many having to spend over budget when they are expected to find greater savings. Three in four are less confident that their budgets will cover legal duties."