Health
Scottish Parliament Written answers, 3 November 2009
Dr Richard Simpson (Labour) | Question S3W-27461
To ask the Scottish Executive how many extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines will be available by 1 October 2009.
Nicol Stephen (Liberal Democrat) | Question S3W-27629
To ask the Scottish Executive what the capacity is for the provision of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for (a) adults and (b) children.
Nicol Stephen (Liberal Democrat) | Question S3W-27630
To ask the Scottish Executive how many extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines there are, broken down by NHS board area.
Nicol Stephen (Liberal Democrat) | Question S3W-27631
To ask the Scottish Executive how many beds there are for patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, broken down by NHS board.
Jackson Carlaw (Conservative) | Question S3W-27722
To ask the Scottish Executive how many extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines there are in Scotland; where they are located; whether it is satisfied that this is a sufficient quantity in view of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, and, if not, how many more machines it proposes to gain access to; by when, and by what method.
Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party)
In Scotland, there is currently one adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and two in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
As respiratory ECMO for adults is a rare and highly specialised procedure, it is available for Scottish patients through the UK ECMO centre at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, which comprises a dedicated unit of highly trained and experienced staff with the range of skills required to deliver treatment. Given the recent increase in demand for ECMO as a result of the pandemic, UK health ministers have agreed to double ECMO facilities at Glenfield hospital to 10 beds, following recommendations from the UK Critical Care Clinical Group.
Additional short-term capacity has also been commissioned at the Royal Brompton and Papworth Hospitals in England which can provide another four beds.
Scottish adult patients can also receive treatment at the designated European ECMO centre in Stockholm where there are two beds.
In Scotland, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary is the only site with both adult ECMO machines and a clinical team trained by Leicester to provide respiratory ECMO. ECMO can be provided in Aberdeen if additional capacity is required, but only with the agreement and ongoing support and advice of Leicester clinicians.
The one respiratory ECMO machine at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh is used primarily for cardiac use. There is not a trained specialist team for adult respiratory ECMO in Edinburgh.
In addition to these adult machines, there are also five paediatric/neonatal ECMO machines at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow.