Dear Sir,

I note that the Bermuda Health Council is working to ensure that Bermudians get value for money with their healthcare and that they are approaching ten years of operation.

I just wonder how much the health council has cost the taxpayer over the past ten years in salaries, rent, operating expenses, etc; it must be in the many millions of dollars. The actual amount is buried in the Ministry of Health’s operating budget.

Unfortunately, bureaucracy has a tendency to expand exponentially. Eight years ago, I predicted the health council was empire-building. Another classic example of this is the Department of Education. Fifty years ago, D.J. Williams was running the department with a handful of people, and now look at the size of it. What is the cost of operating this department? Yes, it provides jobs for Bermudians, but at what cost to the taxpayer?

The Sage Commission recommended a reduction in the Civil Service, but no one has the testicular fortitude to do anything about it. In the meantime, the surplus of the Nineties was turned into a massive deficit — with jobs for the boys — and the country will be suffering for many years to come.

The British National Health Service has become a massive elephant in the room, which needs constant feeding, and has resulted in a large number of health professionals opting out of the service, most notably, a lot of dentists.

You need a hip replacement and one has to wait months to get an appointment to see a specialist and, if you’re lucky, another six months to get the operation.

Just look what happens in Bermuda. See your doctor, referred, and it can all be over in a month or two. When the NHS was first started in 1948, you could get your eyes examined, but would have to wait up to two years to get the glasses, by which time you needed a re-examination.

How do I know? I just sign.

` ANTONY SIESE

Qualified optometrist