A nurse was reported to watchdogs after she ordered dementia patients out of their beds at 5.30am.

A nursing home in Midlothian is set to close down despite concerns that residents will be moved away from their friends and families.

Residents of an Edinburgh street have flooded the Scottish Government with protests about a proposed care home extension.

A senior nurse who slapped a dementia patient at a North-east care home, has been struck off. A hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard that the incident took place in March 2005.

The Lord Advocate, The Rt. Hon. Elish Angiolini QC, today welcomed the creation of a sexual offences team in the Lothian and Borders Procurator Fiscal Area.

Homelessness in parts of rural Scotland is increasing while targets to help eradicate the problem is leaving council housing officials struggling to meet demand for accommodation.

{mosimage}In Argyll and Bute, where almost 1000 people have applied as homeless, the number of households in temporary accommodation has risen by 25% in a year.

More than 200 households are in council-managed temporary accommodation, and in Oban families can wait two years before a permanent home becomes available.

Local authorities, which have been charged with reducing non-priority cases by 50% before 2009, say the policy is creating extra workload for councils as more people need to be found somewhere to live.

In a report to councillors, Malcolm MacFadyen, head of community regeneration at Argyll and Bute Council, said: “The number of households which the council will have a statutory duty to accommodate in temporary accommodation is likely to increase over the next five years as the move to eradicate priority need is implemented.

Scotland’s flagship free care scheme for the elderly was in turmoil last night after a judge ruled that it was wrong for councils to pay the care costs of thousands of pensioners in private nursing homes.

A heated verbal jousting match has erupted following the decision to increase home care service charges.

A recruitment drive has been launched to find new foster carers in West Lothian. Barnardo’s Scotland launched the drive this week which aims to encourage people in the region to consider fostering as a career.

More than a million people drink too much alcohol at least one night a week in Scotland, a new report has revealed.