Nicotine replacement therapy will be prescribed for children as young as 12 across Scotland to help them quit smoking under official NHS guidance. Every GP surgery and chemist is being sent an update on good practice which includes offering nicotine patches and gum to teenagers.

A ground breaking seminar in Glasgow’s East End will this week look at how housing, health and social care services can work together to benefit local residents.

The director of a group of Scottish care homes for the elderly was named newcomer of the year in a UK awards ceremony recognising Asian enterprise.

Nearly half of Scotland’s police forces have no idea about the number of religious hate incidents reported in their area.

Confusion over the replacement for the meals on wheels service in Aberdeenshire is being played down by the council. But new rules prevent home carers heating up food frozen by the users’ family, because of health and safety regulations.

A drug which could help prolong the lives of cancer patients can now be prescribed by Scottish doctors. Taxotere, used to treat sufferers of prostate, head, neck and breast cancers, was recommended for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

It is one of only two venomous lizards in the world, but the Gila Monster could become an unlikely boon for the health of tens of thousands of Scots. The poison of the large reptile has been found to contain a chemical similar to a human hormone that helps regulate the blood sugar level of diabetics.

Doctors are calling for a public debate about rationing NHS treatment to be held in Scotland. Professional body the British Medical Association said the country needs an open discussion about what the health service can afford to offer patients.

Developers will be asked to subsidise new houses in the Cairngorms National Park to keep some homes affordable, under plans revealed yesterday. The park authority aims to build 1,030 homes in the next five years to meet demand.

Thousands of children in Scotland are suffering the consequences of an undiagnosed food intolerance, experts said yesterday. Coeliac disease – caused by sensitivity to gluten in foods made from wheat, rye and barley – can lead to brittle bones, infertility and bowel cancer if left untreated.