Scotland has too few specialist epilepsy nurses, according to a charity which campaigns for the 40,000 people affected by the condition.

HE WAS the government adviser on alcohol abuse who couldn’t say when. Paul Yates is used to lecturing on the dangers of drunkenness, but yesterday the academic heard a sheriff cast doubt on his testimony and so found him guilty of twice drink-driving.

Middle managers could go and savings of £50m found from its budget as Scotland’s largest local authority begins its financial planning against a backdrop of economic uncertainty.

CARERS have been accused of having sex while they were supposed to be looking after an alleged teenage pervert at a £1000-a-day home.

A north-east home for the disabled and elderly has been forced to halt its intake of residents after a damning inspection uncovered “significant failings” in its provision of care.

Care Commission Scotland said it took the “serious step” after its inspectors discovered Kingsmead Nursing Home near Aberdeen had not achieved the “minimum standards” in a number of key areas. Enforcement action at the Kingswells home, which houses around 65 residents, has now been taken by the Care Commission and an improvement notice has been issued.

Among the most shocking findings from the inspection is Kingsmead’s staff’s alleged failure to maintain standards of cleanliness and hygiene. Also highlighted is an apparent failure to provide arrangements to support residents with “hydration needs”.

The management is also scrutinised.

The Kingswood Drive home is operated by Mead Medical Holdings, whose offices are in Commercial House, Rubislaw Terrace, Aberdeen.

SHERIFF Drummond’s criticism has come just months after the Scottish Government unveiled plans to release more criminals to ease pressure on jails, despite claims this would undermine faith in sentencing.

A PATIENT from a psychiatric hospital has gone missing in Edinburgh. Stephen Larnder, 42, an in-patient at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, which offers treatment for acute mental health conditions, was reported missing yesterday.

Charities and legal campaigners yesterday attacked a court ruling, claiming it would limit the choice of school for parents of children with severe learning difficulties.

IT IS 1am, and the relentless banging sound made by an angry prisoner trying to kick in his cell door echoes through the cell blocks and shows no sign of abating.

Aberdeen City Council has vowed to work in partnership to drive up performance in its social work services.