Island council chiefs want to import Polish workers to staff a new care home because there are not enough unemployed locals. Orkney Islands Council have to fill 70 vacancies for the £6million development.

Would you like the opportunity to attend a conference which looks at how social workers are trained? The Scottish Executive has agreed to pay for some service users and carers from across Scotland to attend this years Joint Social Work Education conference (JSWEC).

Councillors have been told that more specialist social workers are required if weaknesses identified in child protection services in the Scottish Borders are to be addressed. But any shortcomings are more than outweighed by strengths, according to a glowing report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIe).

Voluntary organisations across Fife will bear the full brunt of Council cost-cutting with funding awards slashed in a bid to save £250,000. In the past years, grants for vital voluntary organisations and charities have steadily increased, however, this year they will remain at the same level as 2006/7 to save money.

Scotland is facing a care crisis among the elderly with a number of private businesses threatening to close homes in a dispute over funding.

A vulnerable Inverness man who was supposed to receive daily support lay dead for up to a week before his body was discovered, it has been claimed. David Ireland (32) lived in “supported” accommodation and was meant to receive daily visits from carers.

Another cutback has emerged at Fife Council after staff revealed a primary education support service is to be slashed. The local authority was forced to admit this week that the Early Intervention Project – aimed at boosting numeracy and literacy skills in P1 and P2 youngsters – is to be cut.

Police are urging more victims of forced marriages and domestic abuse within black and ethnic communities to come forward for help. A conference is being held in Glasgow to raise the profile of the culturally sensitive support available.

A potential breakthrough treatment for asthma sufferers has been unveiled by British scientists. Researchers have found that treating severely affected patients with bronchial thermoplasty, or specially-heated air fed into the lungs, leads to “significant” improvements.

A male nurse has been struck off after being found guilty of forcing a pensioner with Alzheimer’s to slap his own bare chest while making the sound of Tarzan’s call. Andrew Finlayson, 53, was also found guilty of telling the 70-year-old man, a former professional footballer, to “go and play on the f****** motorway.”