Doctors have urged the Government to bring forward the additional £700m for the Better Care Fund (BCF) to help fund social care services.
An open letter to chancellor George Osborne calls for the extra funding promised from 2017/18 to be delivered this year instead. The medical leaders said hospitals were unable to discharge patients because of social care cuts.
'This impacts on our ability to provide timely treatment and meet treatment targets, risking patient wellbeing, and is ultimately detrimental to the economy through delayed returns to work,' the letter read.
The Local Government Association has also called for the extra funding to be brought forward.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the Government had given councils access to up to £3.5bn to spend on social care and almost £200bn on local services over the lifetime of this Parliament.
