The former chairman of the Bermuda Health Council has expressed concern that the organisation's meeting minutes are not available to the public.

Dr. Michael Bradshaw, who was replaced by Health Minister Nelson Bascome with PLP General Secretary Linda Merritt, in January began the practice of posting the council's minutes.

Long before this paper's A Right to Know — Giving People Power campaign and in the interest of democracy, Dr. Bradshaw said he and the council had decided publishing the minutes on their website would help keep the public informed. Now that there is silence from the BHeC he is concerned that the information needs to be released to the public, if not via the minutes, in some form.

He said: "I would have concerns if there is no information and accountability. The minutes are not there, but that's not the only way to have accountability.

"The whole purpose of having it there was well before the Right to Know. It was because it was a genuine belief by the council and the members that it was the right thing to do.

"Are they maintaining accountability and are they keeping in contact with the public in another way? Are they keeping them involved because I believe very much in a participative democracy. What's going on now? I don't know."

Ms Merritt had promised to update the BHeC website with the minutes of meetings from May 2007, which is the last posting, and to continue the practice in January.

However, almost three months later and two weeks of e-mailing and calling both Ms Merritt and Anthony Richardson, the CEO of the BHeC, this paper received a "No comment".

And Mr. Richardson, who had previously spoken to this paper about the importance of the minutes being online would only say: "The official spokesperson is the chair."

The minutes that are on the BHeC website, www.bhec.bm, detail meetings held by the BHeC between January and May 2007. Included in the last minutes is discussion of the controversial appointment of Kurron Shares as management consultants to the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB).

In a May 28 meeting, according to these minutes, under the headline 'Any Other Business': "Members were advised that the Council did not have any direct involvement in or information about the selection of Kurron Shares of America Inc. as management consultants to BHB in preference to Johns Hopkins International."

The statement is in stark contrast to anything BHB has ever said about the awarding of the $13.5 million contract to a little-known company instead of to one of the world's best-known medical institutions. Since this time the BHB has consistently denied being a victim of political interference and there have been no more updates on the BHeC website.

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