shortage of beds.

This was confirmed by a hospital administrator yesterday after Opposition Senate Leader Sen. Alex Scott revealed in the Senate that his 70-year-old father spent at least a day on King Edward's Gosling children's ward last month.

Sen. Scott said at one point nurses even lost track of his father, Mr. Willard A. Scott, because he was moved around several times during his ten-day stay.

Mr. Scott spent most of the evening of February 4, when he was admitted, in the hospital's emergency department due to a shortage of beds, Sen. Scott later told The Royal Gazette .

His father was then moved to paediatrics for a day before being moved to a general ward.

Sen. Scott said he also knew of another man admitted to the hospital around the same time as his father who had been placed in the children's ward, was moved to Memorial Ward, then back to the children's ward.

But St. Brendan's administrator Mr. George Simons, who was acting in the absence of Bermuda Hospitals Board executive director Mr. Hume Martin, yesterday said this was not unusual.

"It is a fairly standard procedure we've adopted for sometime,'' he said.

"If a bed on a surgical or medical ward is not available, we have to put the patient somewhere''.

Mr. Simons said patients are placed in adult beds, set up for older children, in paediatrics.

But he stressed "if the children's ward is full with larger children, then they (adult patients) are not put there''.

Asked what happened if both the children's ward and general wards were full, Mr. Simons said patients would then have to be placed in the emergency department as was the case last week.

The Royal Gazette reported that patients slept in cots in the emergency department due to an overflow of patients and a shortage of beds, brought on by the closure of 12 beds on Perry Ward in January.

Hospital chiefs were forced to close the surgical ward in an effort to trim costs.

The bed shortage has also meant cancellations for those wanting elective surgery.

In last month's Budget, the grant to King Edward and St. Brendan's was boosted by about $2.8 million.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul admitted the hospital had been hard-pressed to meet new spending targets after subsidy cuts.

But he added: "The additional grant in 1993/94 restores the grant to an appropriate level for the categories of patients subsidised by the Government''.

These categories include the young, elderly and indigent.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board's 1992 annual report highlighted cash difficulties.

It showed the board's net income continued to decline, with just $1.2 million being earned for the year ending March 31, 1992.

This was down from $1.8 million in March 1991.

The drop was partly attributed to rising costs following hospital improvements, and rates below wage increases.

In the Budget debate, MPs in general praised the hospital's efforts to remain efficient and provide good service.

But, Sen. Scott said: "When you start to economise to that extent, it is dangerous''.

Stressing that he was not blaming the hospital staff, he said: "I have the greatest praise for staff working under such conditions''.