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Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, responded to the National Audit Office’s report on the adult social care market in England 

“The findings of the NAO report once again highlight the serious cracks in the foundations of the social care sector. The social care system is in urgent need of radical reform and significant investment – the Government must now rapidly deliver on its manifesto pledge to transform the sector.

“The NHS and social care work side by side – when one service does not work, the other suffers, and the pandemic has shone a harsh light on how fragile and severely under-resourced the country’s social care system has become after failures by successive governments of all parties to act.

“As the Health for Care Coalition – led by the NHS Confederation – warned in its own report earlier this year, the Government has made no tangible progress on fixing social care. A properly funded, high-quality social care sector is essential to a healthy nation as well as a strong NHS. Without reform, and a clear and transparent timetable for delivery, both the NHS and social care will struggle to address the long-term health and social care issues the pandemic will leave in its wake.”

The adult social care market in England