Everyone has problems — but few people anywhere have problems as big as those faced by Wes Streeting.

Imagine having a job where trying to improve the state of the NHS was only the second most testing challenge you faced. But that’s where Mr Streeting is as he grapples with what to do about social care.

Because despite being usually described as simply ‘Health Secretary’ his full official title is actually ‘Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’. And I would argue that the second of these categories is now in an even more perilous state than the first.

Our ageing population means the problems facing the sector are only going to get worse. There are now almost 11 million people aged 65 and over – around 19% of the total population. But it’s not so much the figure itself as the rate at which it’s increasing that should give particular cause for concern: within a decade it is projected to rise to almost 13 million people – or 22% of the population.

Mr Streeting is now well past his first 100 days in office and any career glow-up he may have had from moving into the big chair has faded – and the sheer scale of the challenge that is social care in the UK is becoming apparent to him.

Hence, I’m sure, why Mr Streeting has been doing a round of media interviews to discuss the issue and his 10-year plan for the NHS.

When it comes to social care his answer appears to be – to take the sector outside the arena of politics by building cross-party consensus for ways forward. And he says his early conversations in this vein have received broad support.

For example, he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I now have the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats and Reform all saying they want to work with us in a cross party way on social care…

“Broadly speaking we’ve built a national consensus around the NHS. That’s what I want to do with social care.” This is obviously very positive news for the sector.

I have personally been advocating for just such a road map for some years now – and it seems that, away from Westminster, the public are also supportive of this way forward, particularly those with first hand experience of looking after a struggling older relative.

I base this assertion on new research Home Instead commissioned last month on attitudes to social care. We found that 73% of all groups support a cross-party approach to reforming the sector, rising to 75% among those with that personal care experience.

But the research also shows the public are firmly ready to go further in this direction than anything Mr Streeting trailed – 58% of all groups and 67% of those with caring experience agree with the proposal that there should be a new broader non-political body to oversee social care reform.

So I hope this will be the next step for the Government.

The case for it is overwhelming: the challenge of reform demands expertise and insight. And it is only by bringing in those who know the sector and its needs that we can have any real hope of success.

There is precedent for this. When it comes to that key part of the economy, interest rates, we turn to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), a selection of independent and informed thinkers, to make the big fiscal calls.

We need something similar for health and social care.

Such a committee could be made up of individuals bringing genuine expertise from inside and outside the sector to help strengthen the cross-party work on social care. It would build consistency in thinking and planning — something that wouldn’t need to be reset every time a government or political leadership changed.

The latest hit of that reset button came within days of Labour’s election victory in July.

One of the first announcements by Streeting’s colleague Rachel Reeves when she came to office as Chancellor with a brief to save money was that she was dropping the £86,000 cap on social care costs which had been due to come into effect this time next year – October 2025.

This cap policy had originated in a report by Andrew Dilnot known as the “Fairer Care Funding”. That was written in 2011 – and took a further 13 years to finally not happen.

In fact since the last time we saw a Labour government replace the Conservatives the social care question has had two independent commissions, five white and green papers, three consultations and too many different reports to count.

And now it looks like a royal commission is on the cards as well which is expected to include representatives from the main political parties as per Mr Streeting’s weekend briefings.

I don’t doubt his good intentions. And I like what Mr Streeting appears to be thinking. But all the while these delays in meaningful action are becoming entrenched, in the real world people are suffering. As far as families across the UK are concerned, practical action must be prioritised.

Because, as well as their insight into a way forward, our latest study also shows there is the overwhelming demand for that action right now and a belief that reports — royal or otherwise — only delay the real work being done.

Social care is crying out for long term solutions. Everyone in the sector, and many beyond, are ready to support the Government if they are willing to seize this opportunity and make change happen.

This is a tin can that simply cannot be kicked down the road any longer. I think Wes Streeting knows this – and I’m hoping he can find the courage to act.

Martin Jones MBE is the CEO of Home Instead UK & International