It states there is a serious risk to the delivery of care services by challenges such as— • recruitment and retention issues in a workforce where staff do not feel adequately rewarded or valued; • staff shortages resulting in care users’ needs not being met; • a focus on costs which impacts on the delivery of high-quality services leading to services which don’t always work best for their users. 1 The AGS was clear in his briefing and in his evidence that the issues being faced by social care users and the social care sector overall cannot wait until the new National Care Service is in place, and that progress needs to happen urgently.