The focus on Bermuda’s healthcare system should be on service more than salaries, according to Health Minister Zane DeSilva.“Our discussion about our only hospital should be less about salaries and more about quality of care,” he said yesterday.His comments came after OBA seniors spokeswoman Louise Jackson questioned the resignation of the Bermuda Hospitals Board’s chief of staff Dr Donald Thomas.“The BHB’s two-paragraph press statement announcing Dr Thomas’ resignation is simply not good enough,” she said.“It’s lack of transparency on this issue — aided and abetted by the Minister of Health — is exactly the kind of thing the Bermudian people have had enough of, particularly given the controversy involves the management of millions of dollars of public money and the cost of people’s healthcare treatment.”The MP asked a series of questions about both Dr Thomas’ resignation and his time as the Chief of Staff at the hospital, including his role in increasing salaries and specialist fees.Responding, Mr DeSilva said that neither the BHB nor the Ministry of Health would detail individual matters, but said the BHB had already confirmed that Dr Thomas was on fully paid administrative leave.“It’s out in the public,” Mr DeSilva said. “The Board has consistently acted in line with its own policies and within contractual and national legal requirements.”He also noted that specialist fees are approved annually by the House of Assembly during the budget setting process for the Standard Hospital Benefit, and said the increase in salaries was more to do with an increasing number of staff that a simple increase in salaries.“However the BHB should, and is already, reviewing its service profile and physician speciality offering,” he said.The Minister listed several improvements made by the BHB in the last year as examples of the forward strides being made in healthcare, including a Clinical and Corporate Governance Review (see separate story).Other moves included Palliative Care at Agape House, new pressure point classes and diabetic foot clinics to treat chronic diseases, better equipment to improve lab service, new scanning equipment, and the introduction of a mental health first aid course.He also noted that the Board agreed to restructure the Chief of Staff office in March, including updating the recruitment process to fill the position to include a panel with representatives from the physician community.The BHB themselves also responded to Ms Jackson’s questions in a press release, including questions about Health Partners Limited (HPL), which suffered a $714,000 loss in the most recent BHB financial statements.The BHB said that some aspects of HPL, such the BHB concierge service established to help patients and their families travelling overseas for treatment, cost more to operate than they drew in revenue.“Additionally, an investment was made in Ultimate Imaging, which is a joint venture between BHB and the owners,” the Board said. “BHB felt there was a benefit to patients to have a diagnostic imaging service in Hamilton and the JV was a more cost-effective way of establishing a presence rather than a new service.“However, in the fiscal year under review, the surplus from this service was less than the investment made.“HPL’s financial statements are audited as part of BHB, and the 2010-11 financial statements for HPL are currently undergoing their own more detailed audit by the Office of the Auditor General.”