Today one in 90 Scots suffers from dementia. By 2031 it will be one in 50. During the life of the next Scottish Parliament alone, the number of people living with the condition will climb by almost 4500. But the charity Alzheimer Scotland says the country is not coping.

Firefighters said a swift response from the emergency services saved the lives of 60 people during a major fire at a care home. Residents and members of staff were removed from Douglas View care centre in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.

Scientists at Dundee University believe they may be a step closer to finding out why some people contract cancer. Researchers have found that people who carry a variant of a specific gene are less likely to develop lung cancer.

Thousands of asthma hospital admissions could be avoided if patients were given personalised plans to manage their condition, it was claimed yesterday. Almost 400,000 people in Scotland suffer from asthma and more than 6,000 emergency trips to hospital each year are caused by the condition.

A growing number of Scots children are falling victim to parental abduction, despite an international crackdown. The rate of international child-abduction cases is rising in Scotland following the growth of family breakdowns and increasing ease of travel, say legal experts.

Health and social work staff are being merged to create a more efficient service. East Renfrewshire Council’s social work department and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s local health services have moved into a new office block in Burnfield Avenue, Giffnock.

A new care home planned for the site of Edinburgh’s Eastern General Hospital is facing a delay of nearly one year. The council is due to open four new homes in the city to help tackle the problem of “bed blocking”, where patients are held in hospitals because they have nowhere else to go.

A lack of out-of-hours social work staff at Dumfries and Galloway Council is putting child ren’s services at significant risk. The council’s chief social work officer Beth Smith highlighted the problem in a report on emergency out-of-hours social work.

More than 40 staff from Scotland’s care watchdog are celebrating success in a pioneering new course designed to help drive up standards. The Care Commission officers have all gained a new academic qualification which puts them at the forefront of modern regulation for nurseries, care homes and other care services.

Lessons on how to spot and avoid paedophiles on the internet will be given to every secondary school pupil in Scotland. Specially trained police officers will teach 285,000 youngsters how to use the web safely without falling victim to the “horrendous crime” of grooming.