The plans, which were announced on 30 September, mean care workers will have to wait until 2028 to see a boost in their yearly wages.

According to the union leader, the Casey Commission into social care is also delaying progress.

McAnae claimed: ‘I'm not sure we need another review into what's wrong with social care. What we need is an action plan to fix it. And that needs to happen as soon as possible.'

Speaking to Healthcare Management's sister title, The MJ, the union leader welcomed the Government's commitment to a National Care Service and health secretary Wes Streeting's initial down payment of £500m towards fair pay.

But she said the 2028 timetable was too long to wait. ‘It should be brought forward at least a year.'

She said: ‘The key thing that we asked for the whole way through this was don't get bogged down on who will fund it, where it will sit, the technicalities of it. Start with the workforce and work out.'

McAnae also warned the Government would need to find more than the half-a-billion pounds already committed to make fair pay work.

She welcomed the Government's attempts to address social care problems, telling The MJ: ‘They've recognised the argument that, if you don't look at the care service the NHS becomes a leaky bucket. You're just putting money in and it's pouring out the bottom.'

But she did not envisage a National Care Service that would move services away from local government. She said: ‘It's something that needs to be dealt with by local authorities and there're the ones that are best placed to determine how it needs to be delivered, how it's going to be funded, and keep it as close as possible to local communities.'