[2] Daughter of Dr Lambert Ulrich Camm (né Kamm;[3] d. 1997), of Appleton, Newick, East Sussex, general practitioner, the first medical officer for Plumpton Racecourse and formerly of the Indian Medical Service,[4] and Mary Geraldine (née Russell), she was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart School, at Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

In the House of Lords in 2000 on the subject of the Britain's National Health Service, remarking that "We are all trapped in a marvellously pure ideology, the ideal socialist dream", she advocated removing the requirement that the NHS be free at the point of use, replacing it with "an NHS insurance premium", and that "allowances could be made for those with private insurance and private expertise could be used".

"[11] In 2006–07, Cumberlege chaired a commission reviewing the approach of the Catholic Church in England and Wales to child protection.

[14] In February 2018, she was appointed by the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to chair the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Security Review, investigating reports from women patients about harmful side effects from medicines and medical devices, and how the health service had responded.

[15] It dealt with oral pregnancy test Primodos, anti-epilepsy drug sodium valproate and pelvic mesh repairs.

[16] The Review described "a culture of denial, institutional resistance to responding to safety concerns, and an absence of accountability".