Mr. RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish for each regional procurator fiscal jurisdiction(a) the number of pathologists employed, part-time or full-time, on sudden death procedure and (b) the number of police surgeons accredited to deal with sudden death procedures.
§ Mr. RifkindPathologists are not employed by procurators fiscal but are instructed to perform autopsies in individual cases. It is only possible to provide the numbers of pathologists who are regularly instructed by procurators fiscal in each regional fiscaldom and these are as follows:
Number Glasgow and Strathkelvin 10 Grampian, Highlands and islands 5 Tayside, Central and Fife 3 Lothian and Borders 12 South Strathclyde, dumfries and Galloway 16 North Strathclyde 10 Police surgeons have a variety of duties but may be asked by procurators fiscal to assist them in sudden deaths cases. Figures are only available for the number of police surgeons in each police area rather than in each regional fiscaldom and are as follows:
286W
Number Central 6 Dumfries and Galloway 1 Fife 6 Grampian 4 Lothian and borders 10 Northern 18 Strathclyde 98 Tayside 26