A patients’ group says any inquiry into Bermuda Hospitals Board’s clinical and corporate governance following the suspension of its head doctor needs to be entirely independent.Bermuda Healthcare Advocacy Group issued a statement in response to the news that BHB has decided to undergo a review and is seeking bids from companies interested in carrying it out.The group suggested the board’s chief executive officer Venetta Symonds had “come up for air” and launched the initiative in the absence of chief of staff Dr Donald Thomas, who was placed on administrative leave on July 12 for reasons which have not been made public.“She is convinced that the hospital is in the right time and place to make the necessary changes that will affect outcomes and patient satisfaction,” said the group in a statement.It alleged: “The Bermuda Healthcare Advocacy Group has toiled alongside staff and patients while insurmountable complaints and innuendoes went unnoticed and unchecked.“However, there seems to be a renewed spirit of confidence and initiative to embark upon a clinical and corporate governance review. It is very difficult to ascertain the exact motive behind this recent incentive. However, it leaves more questions than answers.”The board announced on Monday it was seeking bids for the review and would get Ombudsman Arlene Brock to comment on the final report, some of which would be made public.A statement said: “BHB has been in the early stage of planning this review for many weeks and has now started a procurement process with the release of a request for proposal.”Mrs Symonds said the aim was to “raise the bar on clinical care by ensuring our clinical and corporate decision-making process is transparent, fair, collaborative, evidence-based and considers the system-wide implications in order to innovate and improve efficiencies for Bermuda as a whole”.Bermuda Healthcare Advocacy Group, which was formed earlier this year to press for better care at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, claimed BHB was trying to “come out and play transparency to suggest that they are a team player”.But the organisation, which includes some current BHB staff members, said many KEMH workers were demoralised and had got used to not speaking out about their concerns due to fear of reprisals from management.“The Bermuda Healthcare Advocacy Group strongly believes that in order to witness change within our healthcare system we must demand an independent review by a credible outside agency. Failing that, we are only going through the motions.”Asked to comment on the group’s statement, a BHB spokeswoman said: “BHB is looking forward to undertaking its clinical and corporate governance review.“We will update the community when the external reviewer is appointed and we remain grateful to the Ombudsman for Bermuda for agreeing to review our process and the final report.”The advocacy group wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to complain about alleged inadequate care and call for Dr Thomas to be fired on July 11.It was told in a July 19 response that the matter had been passed by the FCO to the Ministry of Health. The group shared with The Royal Gazette an e-mail received from Health permanent secretary Kevin Monkman on Monday.Mr Monkman wrote: “You make many general assertions of bad medical practice to which we cannot respond as there is no evidence provided for us or the BHB to investigate.“By now, we hope that the advocate group have forwarded all concerns to the BHB to investigate, especially as they have already met with the board’s governance committee.”The PS wrote that the board had a duty of confidentiality to patients and staff so could not comment on the “individual details about Dr Thomas”.He added: “However, there are processes in place at BHB for internal complaints to be made and we have values-based behaviours that are backed up by clearly identified disciplinary actions when complaints are proven.“We would also note that termination is viewed as an extremely serious activity and is guided by very clear procedures.“It can only be undertaken following a full investigation, which results in evidence to support any disciplinary action.”The group claimed Dr Thomas spent only a few days a week in Bermuda but Mr Monkman wrote: “Dr Thomas arrived in the office on Monday afternoon and left on Friday lunchtime; he was on 24-hour call seven days a week and remained in Bermuda at the weekend when required.”The patients’ group has set up a dedicated e-mail address for people wanting to share concerns about healthcare, BHB and the Island’s physicians. The address to write to is bhagvii@yahoo.com.Useful website: www.bhb.bm.