Patients are dying and there have been suicides among overstressed staff as a result of NHS rationalisation, a leading consultant in Lanarkshire claimed yesterday. Dr Martin Watt of Monklands Hospital, who was speaking at an event organised by Scottish Voice NHSFirst, said of the downgrading of the A&E:

Doctors have demanded that targets for dealing with obesity – which earn them cash – should be cut from their contract. GPs from across Scotland agreed yesterday that “lifestyle issues such as obesity” should be excluded from their incentive pay scheme because they can do nothing about it.

Fears that patients have been put at risk by long delays are being addressed by the Scottish Ambulance Service. Thousands of seriously ill people had to wait more than an hour for a crew last year, despite urgent requests by GPs for ambulances.

Calls to prosecute parents who give children under the age of 15 alcohol at home are a step too far, according to a leading Scottish charity. English charity Alcohol Concern wants a toughening of the law south of the border to tackle under-age drinking.

Staff at Quarriers went on strike yesterday in a dispute over pay in what is believed to be the first industrial action in the 137-year-old history of one of Scotland’s biggest charities.

{mosimage}About 100 Unison members took part in a one-day walkout at four of 127 projects run by Quarriers across Scotland and in Bath.

The dispute is over an offer of 2.5% and a refusal by management to target rises at the lowest-paid staff members.

Projects affected included Seafield School in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, which caters for 66 boarding and day pupils with social and emotional behavioural difficulties, and North Ayrshire Supported Living in Saltcoats, which provides shelter for young men and women aged 16-25.

Unison members at the Stopover and James Shields homeless projects in the south side of Glasgow, which also provide shelter for young men and women, also went on strike. Quarriers said the action had little impact but Unison said it was “very successful” and warned of more to come unless Quarriers improved its pay offer.

Aberdeen City Council is taking legal action against a charity to try and recoup a £22,402 debt, it emerged last night. Multi-Ethnic Aberdeen Ltd (Meal), which leases an office in the city’s Belmont Street from the authority, is said to have a “long-standing issue” with settling a bill connected to rent arrears.

Only half of all full day nursery school places in Aberdeen have been allocated due to a flawed city council policy, it was claimed yesterday.

Cases of meningitis and deadly blood poisoning in Scotland are up 40 per cent, with six deaths already reported this year.

The part of the Register for practitioners in day care of children services opened in March and workers can now start registering with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The part of the register for managers and lead practitioners in day care of children services opened in October 2006.

An influential group of ministers in Scotland’s largest Protestant church has said that its clergy and congregations have been “sinfully” intolerant of gays and lesbians in its ranks.