Scotland will recruit an extra 80 mental health professionals to work with children and young people with a £4 million investment.Psychologists, nurses, allied health professionals and administration workers are being hired to try and reduce the pressure on Scottish mental health services.The funding announcement coincides with the publication of a…

Scottish councils’ allocations in the draft budget put at risk the delivery of essential services next year, according to local government body Cosla.Total funding for both the revenue and capital budget in the settlement is up more than £210 million, with overall Scottish Government support to local authorities at £11.1…

Health boards in Scotland are missing out on potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds by not claiming back money due for treating non-European citizens, a Holyrood committee has heard.Under a scheme introduced by the Department of Health in 2014, health boards and NHS trusts across the UK that report the…

Squeezed funding and staff shortages are creating "extremely fragile" home care services, a report has warned.A leading think tank and a university said fees for home care services are too low to maintain quality services for the more than 400,000 older and disabled people who need daily help with washing,…

The boss of a taxpayer-supported business that supplies cars to disabled people is in line for a £2.2 million bonus, the Government spending watchdog has revealed.An inquiry into Motability by the National Audit Office (NAO) also found that customers were charged £390 million "more than was required" since 2008.The scheme,…

A woman has appeared in court charged with defrauding a cancer charity out of more than £90,000.Patricia Robertshaw, 42, is accused of pretending to have certain qualifications while working as a partnership and events manager at Yorkshire Cancer Research, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, between 2015 and 2017.Appearing at Harrogate Magistrates'…

Young people's futures are being put at risk because of cuts in youth services, including hundreds of job losses, a new report warns.Unison said almost 900 youth worker jobs have been axed since 2016 and more than £13 million has been sliced from youth services across the UK.At least 160…

The Scottish Government has announced £8.5 million in funding to improve forensic medical examinations and other health services for victims of rape and sexual assault.This financial year, £2.5 million will go towards recruiting staff, providing training and building facilities.The remaining £6 million will be split equally between 2019-20 and 2020-21.It…

Cuts to smoking cessation services, sexual healthcare and obesity services are "misguided", Labour has said.The party said that reductions in spending on public health in England are "shortsighted" and will put additional strain on the NHS.It comes after it published new analysis on the amount of money spent on public…

Health teams working in the community are to get a multi-billion funding boost in a bid to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions, the Prime Minister has announced.Theresa May pledged £3.5 billion a year in new real-terms funding for primary and community healthcare by 2023/24 as part of the forthcoming NHS long-term…

Campaigners have gone to the Court of Appeal to challenge a proposed new payment scheme for NHS services which they claim could put the quality and safety of services at "serious risk".They are challenging NHS England's proposed change to a "fixed payment system" for providers of health services called the…

The costs of caring for adults with learning disabilities is projected to increase by almost £2bn by 2025 – with England’s largest councils warning that unless these ‘enormous’ costs are recognised, the ‘long-term’ survival of councils is at risk. The County Councils Network (CCN) has released analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP…