The loss of water supply for two days at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last week is a symptom of a host of other problems a source has told The Royal Gazette.

The doctor, who preferred to remain anonymous, said there were ants in the operating and induction rooms, and said the air-conditioning system was not only not effective, but also sucked in exhaust fumes from trucks parked in outside loading bays - directly into the operating room.

But Jonathan Brewin, chairman of the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) said he was surprised to hear the comments, particularly as the BHB encouraged feedback internally through managers, their Quality & Risk Management Department, through their chief executive officer. He said he was learning of the issues for the first time.

The source said there was an ant problem in the Operating Room (OR), the induction room and sometimes they are found on sterile equipment. "The OR attendants come in and spray, but the ants soon return," said the doctor. "It doesn't seem to matter. They come right back. I think that operating rooms should be free of vermin - the area is supposed to be sterile."

However Mr. Brewin denied that anyone had ever seen ants in the OR, but admitted that ants were seen in the induction room.

"We have never seen ants in the OR, occasionally this is a problem in the induction room, for which our Environmental Department and Pest Control respond immediately," said the chairman of the BHB.

The doctor also claimed that the air-conditioning system was faulty and that it sucked in the fumes from trucks parked in loading bays, right into the operating room and that sometimes temperatures in the OR were so high that doctors were dripping with perspiration.

"The trucks are apparently supposed to shut their engines off, but they don't," said the anonymous source. "Also sometimes the temperature in the OR is around 80 degrees and doctors, nurses and other staff found it difficult to work.

"The doctors work under the lights, in robes and continuously need the nurses to wipe their brows, so that they don't drip sweat into the open wounds of their patients. In other hospitals where I have worked - I always needed to have on extra clothing, but here you don't want to wear any."

The concerned doctor added: "There seems to be thermostats in every room, but they don't seem to work - I think it is centrally controlled, as you can't set the temperature. The sad thing, is that the entire area is relatively new."

Mr. Brewin said the hospital's management know that the OR has been hot at times they had received some complaints from their employees, but that the Maintenance Department was in the process of addressing how to improve the air conditioning system to ensure that it is up to standard.

"Regarding the exhaust fumes, we receive deliveries several times a day and we are not aware of any exhaust fumes from trucks," Mr. Brewin said denying the claim.

"Our OR is located on the second floor of KEMH and any vehicle would usually unload on the ground floor or basement level, below the OR. In addition, we are not aware of a doctor `perspiring into patients wounds' at any time."

The doctor claimed that beds and stretchers were faulty, like the nurse who reported faulty beds to The Royal Gazette, last week.

"Beds are in a deplorable state," said the source. "We also have stretchers on wheels, which are used to transport a patient into the operating room.

"But sometimes they don't work and the doctor who is trying to get the patient off the stretcher cannot get the side to come down, so that the patient can be lifted across to the operating table.

"When these (stretchers) are removed, they come back - this really doesn't instil confidence in a patient, who is about to have an operation."

The chairman flatly denied that there were any problems with broken stretchers. "There are no broken OR stretchers," said Mr. Brewin flatly. "We are in the process of reviewing our capital and operational equipment and there may be broken stretchers in other departments, however, at no time do we use equipment that is unsafe."

The hospital doctor also claimed that the hospital does not order enough of the essentials. He said: "The hospital doesn't order enough equipment like oxygen masks.

"They tell us, `oh its only ten left of those, so only use them in an emergency'. But what if we had to?

"There are also masks that collect the carbon monoxide when a patient is under anaesthetic, but sometimes we don't have enough of these either.

"They say there is a problem with shipping or the items are stuck in transit - usually in Finland."

Mr. Brewin said its Materials Management Department, which manages hospital supplies, was available to all employees.

"We have checked today and we have plenty of oxygen masks in supply," said the chairman of the BHB. The doctor speculated that part of the hospital's financial problems was the fact that it tends to use the most expensive and latest drugs on the market, when other drugs were equally as effective.

He also said there was no structure in as far as pricing was concerned and that other hospitals were he worked, patients were charged separately for such items.

"I am not saying that we need to compromise patient care, but they do need to look, not just at the latest drugs, because if a drug works it works," said the source.

"We are not sure about what `expensive and new' drugs are being referred to," said Mr. Brewin. "The anaesthetic that we use has not changed. What is important to remember is that we never compromise high quality patient care."

The source said that the hospital could do "much better" and that "it wouldn't take a lot of work".

Mr. Brewin invited the anonymous individual who expressed these concerns to come and discuss them with him, so that he could explain how the communication structure works within the Bermuda Hospitals Board.