There has been a coming together of thinkers who come from different disciplines, including economists, policy developers and health professionals. They are all saying things that now need to be listened to and incorporated into the recovery programme into the New Year.

What matters most to people has been the founding principles of the work I have been involved in over 35 years in care homes. The importance of wellbeing and a focus on the uniqueness of the individuals, and the power of community is being surfaced at last in political debate. Mark Carney and Gus O’Donnell, respected individuals in our society have come to a similar conclusion.

Although government cannot make people happy, as that comes from within. However, what it can do is to re orientate its mission from economics alone to one that puts wellbeing higher up the agenda of what is measured in terms of social capital.

Mark Carney’s talks have set out the importance of values and value. Individualism, the badge worn by society over the last 40 years or so has now come home to roost. Collective society values need to take their rightful place as community has become the most important determinant of happiness.

Gus O’Donnell’s thoughts on levelling up by focusing on wellbeing rather than just economic narrow GDP measures of success are worth consideration. It’s time for economics to be seen together with its social partner. During this pandemic we have seen the importance of community as a most important determinant of happiness, maintaining health, both physical and mental, and their interdependencies. In addition, the importance of families and their stability, children especially in the first thousand days, work, community life and having nutritious food on the table. Also, rather than just looking at transport, roads, and our physical infrastructure alone, we need to focus on our emotional health at different stages of life, from childhood, through adolescence, young family support and care of older people and the wider environment in which we live in a community master plan.

People need to be at the centre of healthcare just as much as they need to be at the centre of wider policy design for social wellbeing, the new driver for politics going forwards. This approach has already been championed by smaller countries such as New Zealand, Iceland and Scotland, who have taken the fork in the road opportunity.