Sturgeon: UK needs ECMO machines to treat swine flu cases Health minister makes plea for life-saving treatment

SCOTLAND'S health minister has called on her three UK counterparts to back an expansion of a treatment that is thought to be a valuable tool in the fight against swine flu.

Nicola Sturgeon, pictured, last week used a conference call with the English, Welsh and Northern Irish health ministers to lobby for more ECMO machines, which are used to treat patients with severe breathing problems.

An aide to the minister said that the cost of extending the treatment in Scotland should not be borne by the Holyrood government alone, but also partly by Westminster.

ECMO, which stands…