ONE of Scotland’s leading housing and homelessness support services has been praised by the Care Inspectorate for its high standards and for achieving positive outcomes for the families and individuals it works with.

Mental health social worker Sandy Watt was the big winner at the Scottish Association of Social Work’s (SASW’s) annual awards in Perth, taking the top prize for his 20 years as a “model professional”. The North Lanarkshire mental health officer and practice teacher was described as “skilled, courteous, ethical and effective” in working with a range of people with significant mental health challenges.

Plans to integrate Scotland’s health and social care services by 2014 must learn lessons from similar efforts elsewhere in the world where successes and failures highlight the perils of attempting to merge the two entities.

Social workers have been warned by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) to ensure they do not do anything in their private lives that could call into question their suitability to practise.

Social workers should absorb BASW’s revised Code of Ethics, published in January this year, and use it in all aspects of their work, professionals at a Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW – part of BASW) heard.

Some asylum seekers in Scotland are being left destitute and social workers must play a role in ensuring their wellbeing, delegates to SASW’s World Social Work Day conference have heard.

OLDER people in Shotts are enjoying excellent new day services – with the opening of a £700,000 facility. The integrated day service at Mornay Way is run by North Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire and provides a range of social care and health services for people over the age of 65 years who have complex needs.

The Scottish Government’s Early Years Taskforce has published a new paper outlining key steps and priorities aiming to make Scotland the best country for a child to grow up in.

A shortage of qualified nurses is putting elderly patients at risk, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is warning.

ONE in ten jobs in health and social work in Scotland has disappeared over the past five years, while the number in England has grown by more than 10 per cent, a new analysis of the public sector has revealed.