Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to scrap plans to create a National Care Service amid uncertainty over how much it will cost.
Alex Cole-Hamilton claimed that centralising care services - which are currently overseen by local authorities - would create a "billion pound bureaucracy" at a time public spending was already being cut.
The Scottish Lib Dem leader said it would be "unthinkable" for the Scottish Government to pursue its flagship health policy given the pressures already facing the NHS.
Former SNP health secretary Alex Neil earlier this month branded plans for a National Care Service as "nonsensical".
Cole-Hamilton said: "Council leaders, legal experts, former health secretaries, trade unions, leading economists, SNP backbenchers, human rights watchdogs, health board bosses – that’s just small selection of those who have spoken out against this government’s plans for social care over the past few weeks.
"Without enormous pressure on public funds, it is unthinkable that the Scottish Government could plough ahead with measures that are at best, a billion-pound bureaucracy and at worst, a blank cheque.
"Nicola Sturgeon must order her ministers to stop work on these plans and send the money to where it is needed the most. Scottish Liberal Democrats are determined to fight for patients and staff to come first, not Scottish Government ministers."
COSLA, which represents councils, previously warned they could make some local authorities unsustainable given the potential number of staff that would transferred to Scottish Government control.
Humza Yousaf, the SNP health secretary, has insisted the plans represent the most important public sector innovation since the foundation of the NHS.
He said: "As the Independent Review of Adult Social Care made clear there is a wider need for investment in social care.
"Our ambitious plans for a National Care Service will be the biggest reform of the healthcare sector since the NHS was created, and we remain committed to delivering the framework Bill to support the vision.
"The rephasing outlined in the emergency budget review is to ensure that we have right skills in place to take the programme forward, and to move at a pace that allows for meaningful engagement with people who are in the care system and those who have experience of it."
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
