The dangers in policy and practice of following the consensus

What is the consensus? How is it that women carry out 11 billion hours a day of unpaid work, yet society pays little heed to their wellbeing (doi:10.1136/bmj.n1972)?1 What is the explanation for the unexpected differences in life expectancy between ethnic groups (doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-068537)?2 Why is it so hard to tackle the racism that health professionals from ethnic minority groups experience daily and persistently (doi:10.1136/bmj.n2832)?3 What is the role of health professionals in preventing and tackling abuse of elderly people (doi:10.1136/bmj.n2828)?4 Does consensus even matter when it’s the evidence that should matter? Take the evidence on covid vaccines, for example. However sceptical you might be about the efficacy trials and their lack of transparency, the real world research, a good deal of which The …