Jean McGivern Turner (born 23 December 1939) is a Scottish medical doctor and former
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
politician. She was the
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the
Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency from
2003 until
2007.
Early life and education
Turner was born in Glagow on 23 December 1939. She attended Hillhead High School before going on to study medicine at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with an
MBChB
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...
in 1965.
Career
Medical career
After qualifying as a doctor, she worked as an
anaesthetist
Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...
registrar at the
Southern General Hospital,
then for 25 years as a
general practitioner in the
Springburn area in Glasgow.
In August 2007, she was appointed as chief executive of the Scotland Patients Association.
Political career
In 2001, a range of services at
Stobhill Hospital were under threat and a "Save Stobhill" campaign had emerged. In March 2001 the constituency
MSP for
Strathkelvin and Bearsden,
Sam Galbraith announced his resignation for health reasons, triggering a in the
Strathkelvin and Bearsden Holyrood by-election of 2001. By April 44,000 had signed a petition. At the age of 61, having recently retired as a general practitioner, Turner entered the by-election as the independent "Save Stobhill" candidate.
In that race, she finished second with 7,572 votes or 18%.
She also campaigned against
Labour's treatment of the
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
.
In October 2002, she confirmed that she would stand as candidate at the elections the following year. In the
2003 Scottish parliamentary elections
The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Scottish Labour, Labour P ...
, she stood again in Strathkelvin and Bearsden on the same platform she used in 2001. This time, Turner won the seat with 10,988 votes or 31%.
She finished ahead of Labour's
Brian Fitzpatrick, who was previously head of policy in
Donald Dewar's policy unit.
She sat on the Health Committee during her time as a MSP.
In February 2007, Turner announced she would stand for re-election at the
2007 Scottish Parliament election, but lost her seat to the
Labour candidate,
David Whitton.
See also
Other doctors elected on similar platforms:
*
Richard Taylor
*
Kieran Deeny
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Jean
1939 births
Living people
Politicians from Glasgow
Independent MSPs
20th-century Scottish medical doctors
Scottish general practitioners
Scottish anaesthetists
Female members of the Scottish Parliament
Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007
People educated at Hillhead High School
Scottish women medical doctors
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Springburn
20th-century women physicians
20th-century Scottish women
Women anesthesiologists