Professor David Luesley Remembered (1952–2025)

David devoted his professional life to improving outcomes for women with gynaecological cancer and pre-cancer, and to advancing the practice of colposcopy in the UK. He was a passionate advocate for high-quality, standardised training and played a pivotal role in the development and strengthening of UK colposcopy training and accreditation. Through his leadership, teaching, and scholarship, he helped establish a robust, competency-based system that has ensured safety and excellence in practice and has made the UK internationally recognised as a world leader in colposcopy training. He also drove forward the training and accreditation of clinical nurse specialists in colposcopy and trained the first nurse colposcopist in England.

As a teacher, author, researcher and mentor, David could be provoking and challenging but he was also generous with his time and knowledge. He inspired generations of trainees through his intellectual rigour, and commitment to supporting colleagues at all stages of their careers. Many who work in colposcopy today do so within a framework that bears his influence.

David last attended the BSCCP Annual Scientific Meeting in Belfast in 2022, joining us to celebrate 50 years of the Society despite his health challenges and our colposcopy community was delighted to honour his contributions. We send our condolences to his wife Gabby, also a well-known colposcopist and their two daughters.

David Luesley’s legacy lives on in the standards he helped set, the clinicians he trained, and the countless women who continue to benefit from safer, higher-quality colposcopy care. He will be remembered with great respect, affection, and gratitude.