§ MR. T. C. H. HEDDERWICK (Wick Burghs)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether, under the present Scots prison system, prisoners on the sick list are dependent for nursing solely upon the offices of any two fellow criminals (without test of knowledge or capacity) who may happen to be placed in the same cell; and, if so, whether, having regard to the fact that this system has been condemned and abolished both in England and Ireland, he will take steps to secure its abolition in Scotland also, and the substitution in lieu thereof of adequate provision for the proper nursing of sick prisoners by trained infirmary warders or otherwise?
§ *THE LORD ADVOCATEThe hon. Member has been misinformed. Special "Nurse" warders are appointed where necessary. In other cases nursing duties are performed either by the ordinary warder staff or by specially selected prisoners. When prisoners are very ill there is power to send them to a hospital, with the assent of the sheriff. The existing system works satisfactorily, and I see no reason for altering it.