Rosemary Anne Leonard (born 22 July 1956) is a British

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

and journalist. She has written for national newspapers and magazines, and was resident GP for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Breakfast News ''Breakfast News'' is a breakfast news programme which first aired on BBC1 on 2 October 1989. The programme was previously known as '' Breakfast Time''. It was planned to launch on 18 September 1989 but was held back by two weeks due to techn ...

'' from 1998. Leonard has published several books, including ''The Seven Ages of Woman'', ''Doctor, Doctor'' and ''Doctor's Notes''. Leonard was awarded Advice Columnist of the Year at the inaugural British Health Journalism Awards, and was appointed MBE for services to healthcare in 2004.

Early life

Leonard attended the all-female

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

where she graduated with double first-class honours in medicine, before completing her training at

St Thomas's Hospital Medical School St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London was one of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools in the UK. The school was absorbed to form part of GKT School of Medical Education. History It was part of one of the oldest hospitals in ...

Career

Leonard is a GP in

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. In 2014 it was announced she was considering closing the practice after a problems arose over NHS funding for a new site. Leonard has written for national newspapers and magazines, including ''

Hello! Hello is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich Cou ...

'', ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'', the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' and the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' since 1986. Leonard has been the resident GP for the

's ''

'' since 1998. She was a member of the

Committee on Safety of Medicines The Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) was an independent advisory committee that advised the UK Licensing Authority on the quality, efficacy, and safety of medicines. Following the thalidomide tragedy of 1957 to 1961, in 1963 the governmen ...

and a Non-executive Director of the

Health Protection Agency The Health Protection Agency (HPA) was a non-departmental public body in England. It was set up by the UK government in 2003 to protect the public from threats to their health from infectious diseases and environmental hazards. The HPA's role w ...

. Leonard has appeared on TV and radio, including on shows ''

The Wright Stuff ''The Wright Stuff'' is a British television chat show which was hosted by former tabloid journalist Matthew Wright from 2000 until 2018. It aired on Channel 5 on weekday mornings from 9:15 to 11:15am. The series characterised itself as "Br ...

,'' and co-presenting a medical series for Sky Real Lives called ''The Secret Guide to Women's Health'', ''Fighting Fit with the Eastenders'', and ''Kick the Habit''. Leonard was a speaker at the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum 2021, a tobacco-industry sponsored event.

Personal life

Leonard has two sons.

Books

Leonard has written several books, mainly drawing on experiences from her professional life. These include: * ''The Seven Ages of Woman'' * ''Doctor, Doctor'' * ''Doctor's Notes''

Awards and honours

* She was appointed an MBE for services to healthcare in the New Year's Honours List 2004. In 2016 Leonard was awarded Advice Columnist of the Year at the inaugural British Health Journalism Awards.

References

External links

Leonard's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Rosemary 1956 births Living people 20th-century English medical doctors 20th-century British women writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century English medical doctors 21st-century British women writers Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge BBC people English journalists People educated at Dr Challoner's High School Writers from London Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British women medical doctors 21st-century British women medical doctors