Leslie Arnold Turnberg, Baron Turnberg (born 22 March 1934), is a British medical professional and an author of many publications and books related to the medical and health services fields. His experience extends to areas of research in these fields, and maintaining a clinical practice. He has published five books and some 150 articles on medical and scientific research. He has written two books on the history of Israel: ''Beyond the Balfour Declaration; the 100 Year Quest for Israeli-Palestinian Peace'' was published in 2017, and ''Mandate: Britain's Palestinian Burden, 1919–1939'' was published in 2021. In May 2024, ''Patients First: How to Save the NHS'' was published. In 2000, he was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

. He resigned from the Labour group in July 2019 over the party's approach to Brexit and handling of allegations of antisemitism. He rejoined the party in June 2020, but remains unaffiliated.

Early life and training

Turnberg was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

to Hyman Turnberg (of Romanian-Jewish origin) and his wife Dolly (born in Manchester to Polish-Jewish parents). He studied medicine at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

from 1952 to 1957, and completed his house posts in North Manchester hospitals, and trained at the

Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and nati ...

and later in London at the

Whittington Hospital Whittington Hospital is a district general hospital, district general and teaching hospital of UCL Medical School and Middlesex University School of Health and Social Sciences. Located in Archway, London, it is managed by Whittington Health NH ...

and

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

. He developed a specialist interest in

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

, lecturing at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barnet Ho ...

at the liver unit developed by

Sheila Sherlock Dame Sheila Patricia Violet Sherlock (31 March 1918 – 30 December 2001) was a British physician and medical educator who is considered the major 20th-century contributor to the field of hepatology (the study of the liver). Early life Sheila S ...

. He married in 1967 and spent a year in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

on a research fellowship with , before returning to Manchester as a lecturer in gastroenterology starting 1969. He would remain consultant gastroenterologist in Salford until 1997.

Medical career

Professor and dean

In 1973 Turnberg was appointed professor of medicine at Hope Hospital (now Salford Royal) in Salford, where he developed the site as a teaching hospital by expanding academic interests. Turnberg made contributions to the understanding of the absorption of electrolytes in the small bowel, gastric secretions, and other areas of gastroenterology. In 1983 the role of Dean of University of Manchester medical school rotated to Hope, and as senior professor there Turnberg assumed the position. He was involved with selection and during the three years as dean developed a new curriculum that pioneered

problem-based learning Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn about a subject through the experience of solving an open-ended problem found in trigger material. The PBL process does not focus on problem solving with a defined solution ...

President of the RCP

In 1992, on the resignation of

Margaret Turner-Warwick Dame Margaret Elizabeth Turner-Warwick (; 19 November 1924 – 21 August 2017) was a British medical doctor and thoracic specialist. She was the first woman president of the Royal College of Physicians (1989–1992) and, later, chairman of the ...

as President of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

of London, Turnberg was elected as her successor. During his presidency, he improved the involvement of patients in the College's activities, expanded the College's premises in

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, and opened regional offices. His presidency saw the splitting off of the paediatricians and the formation of the

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, often referred to as the RCPCH, is the professional body for paediatricians (doctors specialising in child health) in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the postgraduate training of pa ...

(RCPCH), the formation of the

Academy of Medical Royal Colleges The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) is the coordinating body for the United Kingdom and Ireland's 23 Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties. It ensures that patients are safely and properly cared for by setting standards for the way doct ...

(initially the Conference of Colleges), the establishment of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

, and the formation of bodies coordinating medical ethics and postgraduate medical training. He remained in position until 1997, when he was succeeded by

George Alberti Sir Kurt George Matthew Mayer Alberti (born 27 September 1938 in Koblenz, Germany) is a British doctor. His long-standing special interest is diabetes mellitus, in connection with which he has published many research papers and served on many n ...

Medical positions

Turnberg holds honorary

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

ships from sixteen different UK and overseas colleges and has held many different positions within the medical field. His other appointments included President of the

Medical Protection Society The Medical Protection Society (MPS) is one of the three UK mutual protection organisations for medical, dental and healthcare professionals. (Dentists are covered through its subsidiary company Dental Protection.) It protects and supports th ...

from 1997 to 2007, Chairman of the Board of the

Public Health Laboratory Service In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

from 1997 to 2005, President of the Medical Council on Alcoholism from 2000 to 2005, Chair of the UK Forum for Genetics and Insurance from 1998 to 2002. His current appointments include scientific adviser to the Association of Medical Research Charities;

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the

Wolfson Foundation The Wolfson Foundation is a British registered charity that awards grants to support science and medicine, health, education and the arts and humanities. It was established in 1955 and re-registered in 2014. , the endowment of the Wolfson Fo ...

, trustee of the Joseph Interfaith Foundation, He is fellow and former Vice President of the

Use of animals in research

In May 2004, the

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

announced that it was establishing a national centre for "best practice" in

animal testing Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of animals, as model organisms, in experiments that seek answers to scientific and medical questions. This approach can be contrasted ...

called "The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research". The board of the new centre was chaired by Lord Turnberg from 2004 to 2007. The focus of the centre is on the three Rs: the replacement, refinement, and reduction of animal testing. The three Rs were first published in the 1959 by W. M. S. Russell and Rex Birch in the book ''The Principles of Humane Experimentation Technique''. The UK government currently still regards animal testing as necessary, but science minister

Lord Sainsbury of Turville David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (born 24 October 1940) is a British politician, businessman and philanthropist. From 1992 to 1997, he served as chairman of Sainsbury's, the supermarket chain established by his great-grandfath ...

said that a "major opportunity" now existed to make progress in improving the welfare of animals used in testing through the three R's.

Knighthood and peerage

Turnberg received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

1994 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday. Publication dates vary from year to year. Most are published in supplements to the ''London Gazette'' and many are formally conferred by the monarch (o ...

for services to medicine, having the honour conferred by The Queen on 13 December 1994. On 4 May 2000 he was created a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

Letters Patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

, taking the title Baron Turnberg, ''of Cheadle in the

County of Cheshire A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denotin ...

''. At the House of Lords, Turnberg speaks frequently on medical practice, medical ethics, and the Middle East. He is President of the All-Party Britain-Israel Parliamentary Group and a parliamentary supporter of

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...

. He resigned from the Labour group in July 2019 together with

Ara Darzi Ara Warkes Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham (; born 7 May 1960) is an Armenian-British surgeon, academic, and politician. Lord Darzi is an academic surgeon and holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London, specialising in the ...

and

David Triesman David Maxim Triesman, Baron Triesman (born 30 October 1943) is a British politician, merchant banker and former trade union leader. Triesman is a Labour member of the House of Lords. Triesman previously sat as a Labour peer until resigning th ...

. Turnberg cited dissatisfaction with the party's policies on foreign affairs, its approach to Brexit and what he called the "bypassing of parliamentary opinion" and the "overt anti-Semitism that permeates the party machine".

Personal life

On the unexpected death of his son Daniel in 2007 he established a travelling fellowship that allows medical researchers from the Middle East to visit UK academic institutions.

References

External links

National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turnberg, Leslie Turnberg, Baron 1934 births 20th-century British medical doctors English people of Polish-Jewish descent English people of Romanian-Jewish descent Labour Party (UK) life peers Knights Bachelor Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Living people Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians Jewish British politicians Labour Friends of Israel Life peers created by Elizabeth II