When NHS staff surveys were introduced by Susan Deacon, the then Health Minister, the idea was as a temperature check on the NHS that would identify any issues which deterred people from joining and remaining with the service.

NHS staff have reported low morale and bullying are widespread in the service despite record levels of investment. A snapshot of opinion among the Scottish workforce revealed the majority do not feel involved in decisions that affect them and would not recommend the NHS as an employer.

The number of young children in Britain being diagnosed with the most serious form of diabetes has increased five-fold in two decades, prompting calls for urgent research to identify the cause.

The next national census will offer detail options for their ethnic background, while the English will be asked if they define themselves as black or white.

Prisoners will no longer be entitled to automatic early release under new laws set to be approved at Holyrood. The Scottish Executive’s plans to overhaul sentencing are expected to be passed despite Conservative objections.

More than 5,000 charities are to be taken off the official register because they have not contacted the regulator before the deadline. They will lose the benefits of charitable status and the right to call themselves charities.

A row has broken out over a large mural depicting a Guantanamo Bay prisoner which has appeared on the side of a building in Angus. Miki Warren, 18, said she painted the controversial artwork to highlight the plight of suspected terrorists being held at the US camp in Cuba.

A children’s nursery, where youngsters were force-fed out-of-date food, was yesterday facing possible closure following a detailed investigation by the Care Commission. Officers from the welfare watchdog were called in to investigate the All Stars Nursery in the Woodside area of Aberdeen following complaints about the facility, understood to have been made by a number of worried parents.

Thousands of young people with diabetes could go blind before the age of 40, a conference will be told today. The “startling and deeply worrying” findings will be presented at the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference at the SECC in Glasgow. It is the UK’s largest with 3000 healthcare professionals due to attend.

A farm manager has admitted having sex with a 12-year-old girl he was teaching to horse-ride. The High Court in Glasgow heard that 49-year-old Peter Bryant also admitted having sex with a 15-year-old girl.