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.

References

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