Chamber and committees

Regulation of Sheriff Officers is a matter for the Court of Session under Part V Section 75 (1) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987. Amendments proposed in Schedule 2 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill (PSRB), which was introduced into Parliament on 28 May 2009, will give new powers to enable the Lord President to regulate officers more effectively and to appoint a person to inspect and report back on the work of officers of court. The PSRB also proposes an open and transparent complaints route; publication of a code of practice, to be approved by the Lord President, to ensure consistent behaviour and practice; publication of an annual report of the Advisory Council on Messengers at Arms and Sheriff Officers (the Advisory Council) which will report on officer activities; the introduction of lay representation on the Advisory Council and expansion of its activity in supervising officers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Any patient for whom ECMO treatment was to be undertaken at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where current accredited UK and Stockholm capacity has been reached and with the agreement, support and advice of Leicester clinicians, would require to be transferred using standard critical care transfer processes already in place in NHSScotland.

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.