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Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, responds to the PwC survey on the national health and care system.

"The fact that 66 per cent of NHS staff in England are frustrated by the division between health and social care is further evidence of the recognition that care and health needs to work closer together. That's important because it can improve care experiences for people and their outcomes, and can also help manage the demand pressures facing both sides of the system.

"For that to be the case, social care needs to have the same profile and priority as the NHS. Currently it does not. Analysis in our submission to the Autumn Statement shows the sheer scale of the funding crisis we face in social care, both now and in the near future, as well as the damage done from the historic underfunding of adult social care. We estimate social care for the elderly and disabled could be facing a potential funding gap of at least £2.6 billion by the end of the decade. Our own research has also found that two thirds of people believe a greater share of the total health budget should be spent on care for the elderly and disabled provided by councils.

"If social care can be put on an equal footing we stand a better chance of delivering on integration. We've consistently called for greater local democratic accountability for health and social care and greater integration. However we also believe that there is no one-size-fits-all arrangement for the integration of health and social care. We wouldn't support any further national restructuring of health and social care. It's up to local political, clinical and community leaders to decide on the arrangement of their services."

Related information: NHS staff and public want reforms to end confusion in current national health and social care system