The Better Care Fund has been dubbed a 'complicated ruse’ to transfer money from health to local government, in a new report published today.

The damning report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) argues the government’s latest integration initiative has failed to achieve its objectives of saving money and improving patient outcomes.

Instead, the report states, the number of emergency admissions into hospitals and delayed transfers of care have actually increased since the Fund was introduced.

The report states: ‘In practice, the Fund was little more than a complicated ruse to transfer money from health to local government to paper over the funding pressures on adult social care.

‘Integration must now be delivered in the context of the sustainability and transformation planning process. Place-based planning will be critical to the future of health and social care.

‘However, to succeed, the NHS must find better ways to engage more genuinely with local government and local populations.’