The chairwoman of the Bermuda Hospitals Board said she was "disappointed'' that nurses across the Island had called for her resignation following a dispute over pay and conditions.

Ianthia Simmons-Wade, who took over as chairwoman of the board in January, said she and other members had done everything in their power to see that nursing and allied health professionals were given pay rises.

And she said she could not understand why they had claimed they had accepted the latest pay increase last week "under duress'' when it was above and beyond their normal two year rise and some nurses had received an increase of almost $6,000.

Mrs. Simmons-Wade said the offer they accepted, which amounted to an increase of two-pay scales from April this year, was exactly what they thought they had agreed to in March.

She spoke out after Bermuda Public Services Association general secretary Ed Ball said nurses only accepted the latest offer to avoid strike action and that it was agreed "under duress''.

He added that nurses had a vote of no confidence in the chairwoman and therefore she should resign.

The dispute over the Island's 500 nurses' pay and conditions has rumbled on since before Christmas.

They reached an agreement in March of this year after lengthy and public negotiations.

However, the nurses did not receive what they thought they had agreed to, which was two pay-scale increases from this April.

The board claimed the union misunderstood the offer and said it thought it had agreed to a staggered two-scale pay increase -- one increase this April, and another next April.

Some enrolled nurses were to receive three pay scale rises.

When the nurses received their pay they realised the error, which resulted in a threat of strike action and the re-opening of negotiations.

After two weeks of talks, the board last Friday offered to pay the nurses the whole increase from this year in order to ensure patient care was kept at a high standard and morale was raised.

But Mrs. Simmons-Wade said still the nurses were unhappy.

She said: "We simply said that because of the misunderstanding, and because we were concerned about patient care and morale, we would be prepared to take the high road and look at the bigger picture. I'm extremely disappointed about the remarks from Mr. Ball made to me, in particular. And I'm disappointed that he has said that the nurses had accepted something under duress. This is what they thought they had agreed to in March. They got what they wanted. I think we have given above and beyond. What is it going to take to make people feel content?'' The nurses, through their union, will begin negotiations in June for their usual pay increase, which comes around every two years.

But the chairwoman said last year the board felt the wages of the nurses and allied staff needed to be improved if Bermuda was to compete with the rest of the world in retaining and attracting health workers.

She said the pay deal to come from that decision was above and beyond what the board had been required to do.

She added: "This was something extra to show appreciation of our nurses. This is not something that this board was required to do.'' But Mr. Ball said the nurses had accepted the two-pay scale increase in March under duress, so agreeing the same pay deal last week was no more satisfying for them.

He added: "The nurses have sent a message to the board that they will still continue to fight.

"It was always said that they were accepting that offer under duress. We will continue to fight in June and the talks will be frank.'' Mrs. Simmons-Wade said she had no intention of resigning unless Health Minister Nelson Bascome requested her to "because there is still a lot of work that I have to do for the hospital''.