Chamber and committees

Sheriff officers are officers of the court and only have such powers as are specified in the court order. In terms of the Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officer Rules 1991 sheriff officers may exercise the following functions: (a) collect any debt constituted by decree or recoverable by summary warrant; (b) execute diligence, and (c) execute a citation or serve any document required under any legal process. They do not have the power to arrest.

Sheriff officers are officers of the court and their role is to exercise such powers as the courts specify in the order relating to each individual case. In terms of the Messengers-at-Arms Rules 1991, sheriff officers may exercise the following functions: (a) collect any debt constituted by decree or recoverable by summary warrant, (b) execute diligence and (c) execute a citation or serve any document required under any legal process. No extra-official activity may be undertaken without the permission of the sheriff principal.

The suitability of those appointed as sheriff officers is a matter for the Court of Session under Part V of the Debtor (Scotland) Act 1987. There are no plans to review the system, however, under Schedule 2 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to Parliament on 28 May 2009, membership of an approved professional association will be compulsory. The approved professional association will have its own criteria for accepting an application for membership, which will allow suitability to be assessed. Candidates will have a right of appeal against any decisions on applications for appointment.

Regulation of training for sheriff officers is a matter for the Court of Session under Part V of the Debtor (Scotland) Act 1987. Amendments proposed in Schedule 2 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to Parliament on 28 May 2009, will require all officers to be a member of a professional association approved by Scottish ministers. Compulsory membership will allow the professional association to provide consistent, high quality training that will include elements of continuous professional development. This improved training should raise standards generally amongst officers in relation to the performance of their duties.

This information is not recorded by the Scottish Government.

NHS Grampian has provided adult respiratory ECMO treatment on seven occasions over the last seven years at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. This includes two occasions last month, when two patients within NHS Grampian were suffering from H1N1 and were considered suitable for respiratory ECMO treatment, but on each occasion current UK and Stockholm commissioned and accredited capacity had been reached.

Prior to November 2007, this treatment was only possible with the direct clinical support of the Leicester team, who either travelled up to treat patients onsite, or provided ongoing clinical support and advice from a distance.

Since then, a number of staff have been trained by Leicester in the provision of adult respiratory ECMO treatment, therefore there is no longer a requirement for Leicester clinicians to provide support onsite. However, all referrals for ECMO continue to require discussion and agreement with Leicester clinicians, and any provision of ECMO treatment must be undertaken only with the ongoing clinical advice and support from Leicester throughout.

The additional cost of doubling ECMO capacity at Glenfield is being met from within the existing budget of the UK National Commissioning Group, to which the National Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland contributes.

Glenfield Hospital in Leicester is the UK''s nationally commissioned centre for adult respiratory ECMO and through UK national specialist commissioning arrangements, adult patients from across the UK are referred there for treatment. Leicester is and remains the gateway and first option for access to this treatment in the context of the current H1N1 pandemic.

The UK National Commissioning Group has commissioned additional surge capacity in the context of the pandemic at Leicester, the Royal Brompton and Papworth Hospitals. When this capacity is reached, Stockholm is the final option for referral for treatment under current commissioning arrangements.

In Scotland, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is the only site with ECMO machines and a clinical team trained by Leicester to provide adult respiratory ECMO. However, it has not been accredited or commissioned through the process outlined above and therefore will only be considered for the provision of ECMO when current UK and Stockholm capacity has been reached, and only with the agreement and ongoing support and advice of Leicester clinicians in the context of the current H1N1 pandemic.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28713 on 16 November 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Staff at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary received training to provide adult respiratory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment from the UK''s nationally commissioned ECMO centre at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester in November 2007, with further training in 2008.