A woman and two men have been charged with taking part in child abuse in Edinburgh which involved up to 15 adults. The group have been accused of raping, molesting and physically assaulting two sisters over the course of 12 years at homes in Edinburgh and a caravan park in Perthshire.

The first needle exchange run by the Salvation Army is to be rolled out at branches across the United Kingdom. The pilot project, set up in Stirling with the support of the voluntary group Signpost, has helped take extra needles off the streets, organisers said.

Social work, social care and early education and child care organisations in Scotland are being urged to enter their teams for the Care Accolades 2007. The closing date for entries to “the Oscars” or the sector is 23 February.

Nine months after launching its home is… campaign, Shelter Scotland has illustrated to Minister for Communities Rhona Brankin how important home is to the people of Scotland.

Senior doctors fear the size of Scotland’s flagship new children’s hospital is to be cut by up to one-quarter amid soaring building costs. The Herald understands NHS planners no longer believe they can deliver a promised 40,000sq metre replacement for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill with a £100m grant pledged by the Executive in 2004.

Choose Life, Scotland’s national strategy to prevent suicide, will host its fourth national summit in Edinburgh this week, which will bring together key people tasked with reducing Scotland’s suicide rate.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), the organisation established to set up a register of key groups of people who work in social services in Scotland, has extended the list of qualifications it recognises and accepts for the purposes of registration.

The new Board of Scottish Voices had their first meeting on 31st January 2007 and voted in key office bearers to take the work of the group forward. At this exciting time it was recognised that all board members are of equal importance in making sure the voice of service users and carers are heard.

A radical new approach to preventing heart disease could save more than 7,000 lives over the next five years, according to health professionals. Experts are recommending a new approach which they say could also prevent 27,000 heart attacks and other “cardiac events” in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive is undertaking their first ever inspection of Shetland Islands Council’s social work department. The inspection began in December and is part of a three year national rolling programme. Shetland will be the last of the Scottish islands to be inspected.