THE number of babies born addicted to heroin in Edinburgh has soared, with five a month now taken from the maternity ward straight into care.

SORRY may be the hardest word – but the apologies finally flowed last Thursday for the distress endured by elderly care home residents and their families.

The leader of Scotland’s doctors today called for better funding and provision of alcohol treatment services in Scotland.

THE two private companies which controversially won contracts from Scottish Borders Council to deliver home care in the region for the next three years have yet to be registered for these services with the regulatory Care Commission.

YOUNGSTERS about whom there are child protection concerns must be given immediate medical examinations and appropriate arrangements put in place “without delay”, an inspection into looked after children in Glasgow has found.

A new approach to teaching English-language reading and writing skills to deaf people is delivering “immensely promising” results, a charity has said.

MORAY carers were last night assured that the council-funded services they receive are safe. The pledge came after it emerged that the social care charity Quarriers, which is poised to take over the running of carers’ services in Moray, withdrew its support to Argyll and Bute Council over a funding wrangle.

A LAST-minute lifeline emerged at the weekend to renovate the Rose Innes care home in Aberchirder. Just days after councillors deferred a decision on a plan to replace it with affordable houses, a possible white knight emerged from the shadows, in the form of well-known Aberchirder businessman Robert ‘Bingo’ Bremner, a former provost of the town.

MILEAGE allowances for foster carers in West Lothian are set to triple following a “long overdue” review by the council.

Scotland’s care regulator, the Care Commission, has unveiled its plan to ensure the standard of care services across the country continues to improve over the next two years.