asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what grant, if any, is made to the representatives of a deceased person for the purpose of defraying the cost of transport of the deceased's body from the hospital to the burial place in cases where the dead person was sent for treatment from home or from a local hospital to a distant hospital, given that, had the person lived, the cost of return home or to the local hospital would have been borne by the National Health Service.

Where a patient transferred from his home or local hospital to a distant hospital dies in the distant hospital, and the relatives are unable to meet the cost themselves, the health board may transport, or meet any reasonable additional expenditure in transporting, the patient's body back to hospital of first admission or to the patient's home. If the hon. Gentleman has a specific case in mind I should be glad to look at it.