The call from Baroness Casey came at the Local Government Association's annual conference in Bournemouth yesterday.

Responding to the comments at the conference today, Phil Holmes - president, ADASS, said colleagues should ‘not panic too much' about an NHS takeover of social care, adding Baroness Casey ‘knows the value that local government brings to this'.

James Bullion - assistant director of policy, Local Government Association, said a ‘reboot' was required on health and social care integration.

‘It does feel to me like we've gone backwards in the past five years rather than forwards,' Bullion said.

The assistant director of policy said there were ‘hot spots of integration' to focus on in the first instance, including merging continuing health care and social care, as well as older people who were frail or who wanted prevention in their community around neighbourhood health.

Bullion said the Better Care Fund's focus on discharge was a further example of successful integration, adding: ‘There are areas where do you want a local health and social care service and you could build out from there.

‘I think a grand plan to merge health and social care would be a distraction.'