Doctors on Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) were last night urged to declare whether they will gain patients in their own practices through the closure of the Medical Clinic.

Bermuda Public Services Union leader Ed Ball alleged some health professionals on the BHB face "possible conflicts of interest" because their own clinics provide services which will be lost after the Government-funded centre is controversially shut down.

He called for board members to either state publicly whether they would take Medical Clinic patients, or resign.

Premier Ewart Brown has faced a backlash from the public since announcing the closure of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital facility, which provides care to vulnerable patients including the elderly, homeless and mentally ill.

Government has said patients will have access to the same services — including transportation, X-rays, eye exams, medication, and MRIs — via six private doctors across the Island. However those medics have not been identified.

In a statement released yesterday, Mr. Ball said: "What is increasingly alarming from an historical perspective, and still appears to be continuing as we speak, is that some local physicians (and other professionals) who sit as members of the BHB, rarely declare possible conflicts of interests on planned medical services that the same doctor or professional is planning to offer at his private practice.

"Some are of the view that this is capitalism at its best, even if their service competes directly with the board's planned initiatives, and they are taking advantage of the idea before the board.

"If these allegations are true, the doctors on the board need to state publicly if the Medical Clinic's patients will become theirs and/or resign."

He added: "Or, if there is also any truth to the assertion that a board member is also the Acting Attending Physician working at the Medical Clinic and at a medical practice earmarked to receive patients from the Medical Clinic, he also needs to resign."

The BHB could not be reached for comment last night.

Announcing the closure of the facility, formerly known as the Indigent Clinic, in his Throne Speech last year, Dr. Brown said patients' dignity was being undermined.

On this subject, Mr. Ball stressed care in the clinic was of the highest standard.

He said: "The union was assured (in 2005-06) that there were no anecdotal records or statistical proof that any existing nursing staff or allied health professionals had offered inferior service to any of the clinic's patients or that some patients experienced inferior patient care.

"In fact, we are only aware of compliments to the staff by the clinic's patients.

"The union was also assured that the stigma of the Indigent Clinic did not insult any of the patients and that a patient would always be referred to the appropriate doctor and/or health professional when warranted."

Earlier this month, Dr. Brown faced a protest from up to 50 campaigners outside the House of Assembly. They accused him of failing to consult the public over the closure of the clinic and demanded to know how the its patients will get treatment in the future.