Bermuda Hospitals Board to help resolve an ongoing industrial dispute.

Mr. Ball, general secretary of the Bermuda Public Services Association, made his comments following the announcement last week that Raymond Dill is to head up the Bermuda Hospitals Board.

The dispute at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital centres around ten nurses who lost their jobs following a shake up at the hospital last summer.

Although the ten were offered alternative positions on the same pay scale, they are demanding that they receive a redundancy cash settlement. All ten nursing staff were on fully paid administrative leave up until last week.

"In light of the new chairman of the board indicating that he wants to improve communications this might be the time for everyone to sit down and try and resolve the issue of the ten nurses,'' Mr. Ball said.

"Certainly we need both parties to resolve this issue because there are wider issues that affect all staff and BPSA members.

"We are hoping that, in light of the removal of the administrative leave this matter now has an element of urgency.

"This matter has been going on for far too long and we must now bring it to a close.'' Mr. Ball added that he did not expect the stalemate to escalate but that it might be necessary to bring in a third party in order to get the matter resolved.

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