We want to feel proud of our social care system.  But without immediate additional funding, probably in the order of £7bn a year as recommended in the recent Health and Social Care Select Committee report, we will continue to be frustrated and angry at the way the care needs of millions of vulnerable people are not being fully met. And our NHS has to fill the gaps and meet the burden an underfunded social care system creates at a time when it is under most pressure to perform its core tasks and tackle the massive backlog caused by the pandemic.

The Government has said it will publish its proposal for reform of social care funding in the autumn so, as we reflect on UK’s tremendous performances in Tokyo, will it be an Olympic Gold for social care?