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The minister, giving the first keynote speech at Community Care Live in London today, outlined initial plans for creating a new vision of adult services. The government is currently consulting with the sector with a view to delivering a document by late summer.

“I’m keen to listen to radical thoughts so don’t be afraid of saying the unthinkable,” Ladyman said. “I want to hear your views because I’m not a social worker and I don’t know how you see social care.”

Ladyman said that social workers and managers in adult services might like to consider how to overcome some of the organisational and structural problems in providing person-centred services. “But don’t think too long. Patience is not my strong point,” he added.

He also called for social services to continue to explore ways of working more closely with health and housing agencies.

“Services must be seamless. If gaps in services are to be closed, improved forms of joined up planning and service delivery are needed.

“Professional boundaries might be important to you, but they are not to service users.”

But David Tombs, from the Social Perspectives Network for modern mental health, warned that social workers were losing their autonomy and identity and being “swallowed up by the health arena”.

But Ladyman insisted there were “no signs” of the government trying to push the social care workforce towards health.

“For adult social care, I can see the need for other services such as leisure and transport to get involved. But the social care workforce is going to have a vital leadership role in that.”