HC-One chief executive James Tugendhat has called on the government to fix the crisis in social care to solve the problems plaguing the NHS.

Speaking to the Newcross Healthcare Voice of Care Podcast, Tugendhat said distinctions between health and social were largely arbitrary.

“Put really simply, we’re not going to fix the backlog in the NHS and manage the waiting lists if we’re not able to ensure that we have the right discharges into social care,” Tugendhat said. “And so, if we can’t have enough people in social care, we’re not going to solve health care either.

“So much of social care now involves supporting really complex needs, including frailty and dementia. These are clinical conditions. There isn’t a real division between health and social care. It’s just one continuum.”

Tugendhat said social care’s recruitment challenges would be around for many years and were being driven by the need for ever more complex care.

“There’s no doubt that this is one of the toughest markets and one of the toughest set of circumstances anyone has in their living memory,” he said.

“So we’ve this really difficult combination of people now needing care after the disruption of Covid-19 and so really strong demand for what we do and yet really few people to come and support us in giving that care.”

Tugendhat also shared his thoughts on wellbeing, burnout within the workforce, international recruitment, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on care workers and the importance of delivering person-centred care.

Recent research conducted by YouGov for Newcross Healthcare found 67% of those considering entering social care didn’t know how to navigate their way into the sector, while 38% of those working in the sector said their mental health had worsened over the last 12 months.

Hosted by healthcare expert Suhail Mirza, the podcast episode can be found by clicking here and can also be found on YouTube,  Spotify, Apple and a range of other podcast platforms.