Health officials have spent more than $19 million on consultants over a 21-month period.

According to Government answers to Parliamentary Questions from Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson, the Ministry of Health spent approximately $19.4 million between April 1, 2008 and January 31, 2010.

The Bermuda Health Council spent almost $300,000 of that sum. And nearly $2 million was spent revamping Government's Health Insurance Plan (HIP) and developing the senior health care option Futurecare.

The bulk of the consultants were used by the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB). It has a five-year contract with Kurron Shares Inc. worth more than $2 million annually, and paid $10 million for the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) Development Project. It also paid $636,600 for Johns Hopkins International to review KEMH's initial estate master plan.

Yesterday Health Minister Walter Roban defended the cost of the consultants. He said the majority of expenses went towards services that are not readily available on the Island.

"If one reviews the nature of the consultants for the Ministry of Health, the largest payments are paid for services which are unavailable locally or where the Ministry is redeveloping or introducing new systems.

"For example, the improvements and redevelopment of the KEMH are as a direct result of the partnerships that have been created with leading medical institutions in the United States in addition to leading consultants who have the experience of addressing the types of issues our hospital is facing.

"In all cases these persons or organisations represent good value for money. It is important to note that of the 55 consultants listed, 44 are Bermudian."

In 2005, American firm Cannon Design developed an estate master plan for the future of hospitals, concluding that KEMH and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute were approaching the end of their natural lives.

Reports by Johns Hopkins International were then requested in order to better make recommendations. In November 2008 the BHB and its partners unveiled a five-year plan that would cost $315 million and would modernise the hospital.

In December last year the Senate approved planning permission for the new hospital, agreeing it would be created through the Island's first Public-Private Partnership.

Yesterday Shadow Deputy Leader Trevor Moniz reiterated concern about the amount of money spent on consultants and how little faith it showed in the Bermuda public.

He said: "We have long expressed our concerns with this Government's over-the-top reliance on consultants, many from overseas.

"In the first instance, Bermuda has the largest Government in its history — more people in its ranks than ever before — yet ministers have hired what is, in effect, a shadow government accountable to no one but them.

"The reliance on consultants makes us think this Government lacks confidence in the Bermudian people. How else to explain this extraordinary move to outside expertise?

"We have to wonder who made the decision that Bermudians were no longer capable of running their own hospital?"