Bermuda Hospitals Board executive director Mr. Hume Martin said yesterday it was "premature'' for him to say whether any further disciplinary action will be taken against staff as a result of the Justin Fisher inquest.

"I think the hospital has a responsibility to go over all the evidence heard during the inquest and speak to the staff who gave evidence before making any decisions.'' He added: "It is clear the jury itself did not name or blame anyone.'' In a letter to four-year-old Justin's parents Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Fisher, the Hospitals Board stated the only King Edward VII Memorial Hospital staff member disciplined as result of the child's death was his nurse in the recovery room, Mrs. Pearlette Basden. The letter was submitted as evidence in the inquest.

Mrs. Basden said during the inquest she had been suspended for five days for leaving Justin unattended in the recovery room when she was called away to the telephone and then went to the bathroom.

A coroner's jury found on Wednesday that Justin's death at the hospital was "aggravated by a lack of professional care''.

Justin stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest while he lay unconscious in the recovery room on January 11 last year following a routine tonsillectomy. He was revived and kept on life support until January 18 when he was declared brain dead.

Mr. Martin said he did not think the hospital would be implementing any more new policies and procedures as a result of the inquest.

"The board made comprehensive changes following Justin Fisher's death at least a year ahead of the inquest and those policies are serving us well,'' he said. "But we are constantly reviewing all our policies, including in the recovery room.'' During the 15-day inquest jurors heard several KEMH nurses testify it was wrong for a nurse to leave the recovery room unattended.

Senior nurse Mrs. June Belloquet said it was "never normal'' practice for a nurse to leave a patient unattended without finding someone to take over.

Jurors also heard criticism for Justin's anaesthetist Dr. Tomos Huw Morris for not making close checks on the child following the operation.

Resident anaesthetist Dr. Alexandra Scott testified doctors should not just "park'' their patients in the recovery room and forget about them unless called for.