Bermuda Hospitals Board chief executive Stephanie Reid said last night she was hopeful a work to rule dispute involving doctors can be resolved soon.

She was responding to yesterday's revelation in The Royal Gazette that a dozen doctors at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital started the industrial action on Tuesday in protest at excessive working hours.

The Labour Relations Officer (LRO), who deals with disputes in essential industries, intervened yesterday and spoke to both the Hospitals Board and Bermuda Public Services Association (BPSA). The LRO can force both parties to take the matter to the Permanent Arbitration Panel if it is not resolved shortly.

Ms Reid said she was trying to recruit an extra doctor for the surgical department and to change the shift structure to ensure the physicians did not work much more than 40 hours a week.

She rejected a claim that some of the doctors are working 100 hours per week.

She said they were working 232 hours a month, including regular time and time on call.

Ms Reid said the hospital had tabled an offer to improve salaries in June. She told The Royal Gazette : "The work to rule is not having much impact on the hospital at this point in time.

"With the work to rule they also consider the terms of their contracts of employment and job description in which they are held accountable for patient care.

"I am quite confident we can resolve it fairly soon. There have also been positives in this because it has allowed us to step back and look at the way we do things to see how they could be improved.'' Hospitals Board chief hopes that doctors' protest will end "The doctors were saying they were working too many hours so that they didn't have time for their private lives so we are looking at changing the pattern of their working.

"We are looking at a shift system that will accommodate the doctors and putting in a situation where they will work a little over 40 hours per week which will be quite reasonable and will allow them to have time for themselves.

"We have discussed the way in which this can be improved and the hospital is looking at increasing the number of doctors working in the surgical department from five to six people.

"We are hoping to come on-stream as early as possible as soon as we can finalise recruitment for the new position.'' BPSA general secretary Ed Ball Jr. said: "The BPSA is working with the Hospitals Board.

"The physicians are professionals who take their role as doctors seriously with respect to emergency and critical care but they have rights and they are exercising their rights as workers to see if matters can be resolved.''