§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many post mortems were performed in the Fife health board area in the years 1979–80 and 1980–81; what is the fee payable to the pathologist per post mortem, and from whom; what proportion is payable to the health board; and how much was actually paid in each of the years 1979–80 and 1980–81.
§ Mr. FairgrieveInformation on the number of post mortems performed in the Fife health board area in the years 1979–80 and 1980–81 is not readily available centrally. No fee is payable to pathologists for conducting routine post mortems; but pathologists conducting forensic post mortems at the request of the procurator fiscal are entitled to a fee of £26.05 payable by the Crown Office; where hospital technical facilities are used, one-third of this fee has to be remitted to the board concerned. Details of payments made to Fife health board may be obtained from the board.