The same effect is seen in new US data showing increased rates of mental illness after covid-19 when compared with contemporary and historical controls (doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-068993, doi:10.1136/bmj.o326).56 With increased pressure on mental health services and ongoing staff shortages (doi:10.1136/bmj.o350),7 BMJ Careers has launched a new UK jobs board for mental health professionals (https://healthjobs.bmj.com). Nonetheless, worries about excessive ministerial control and the absence of clear strategies to tackle workforce shortages, social care provision, and inequalities—as reinforced by a damning new report on the influence of race on health outcomes (doi:10.1136/bmj.o382)8—suggest that the UK government’s proposals are light in important areas and with regard to persistent problems (doi:10.1136/bmj.o361).9 One conclusion is that promises to build back better or build back fairer are empty, especially when the haste to end all restrictions, including abandoning covid surveillance (doi:10.1136/bmj.o376),10 is widely condemned as ill informed and reckless (doi:10.1136/bmj.o383).11 We’re reconstructing the same flawed society that failed to respond effectively to SARS-CoV-2 and continues to fail on climate action. The answers may lie in new approaches to incentivise sustainable corporate behaviour, reduce the rich world’s consumption, and, most interestingly, to encourage “degrowth” (doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-068126).12 Doctors and other health professionals are stronger than they think, with influence stretching from citizens to politicians (doi:10.1136/bmj.o246).13 The challenge is to ensure that the “new normal” isn’t simply the “old normal” but with even more damaging consequences. 1 Loseva P. Data and distrust hamper Russia’s vaccination programme.
Why the new normal might be the old normal—but worse