The building of a brand new hospital could be given the go-ahead within the next 12 months after the Bermuda Hospitals Board announced it had begun developing a long-term strategy for health care on the Island.

Yesterday chairman Jonathan Brewin revealed to The Royal Gazette that the BHB had sent out requests to potential consultants to develop an "Estate Master Plan".

"We are looking for people to put forward a consortium: healthcare advisors, architects, engineers to analyse what we have and what we need, the stakeholders - doctors, insurers, patients, hospital staff," Mr. Brewin said. The project will be awarded by the end of May, with the Final Estate Plan due for presentation roughly 11 months later.

An outline of the master plan is scheduled to be ready by the end of January, 2005.

The plan will be used to implement both short and long-term facilities and infrastructure planning guidelines, year by year, through to 2015.

"I believe this is the first time this has been done on this sort of scale, involving both national and international agencies," Mr. Brewin said. "I'm excited to have this road map."

BHB's Request for Proposals document points out to potential consultants that "our buildings and building services do not meet the functional requirements for current clinical care and adversely influence the effectiveness and efficiency of our organisation".

"The primary aim of this Request for Proposal, therefore, is to develop and produce a comprehensive ten-year estate master plan document for the Bermuda Hospitals Board."

Raising capital for any new projects recommended in the plan will be the responsibility of the newly-formed Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Trust (BHCT)

Set up as an independent organisation to formalise the hospitals' charitable relationship with the community, the BHCT will have the responsibility of advising and fundraising for the BHB as well as managing the distribution of donations.

Yesterday BHCT chairman Philip Butterfield described the possibility of a new hospital as "an intriguing one".

If the results of the report highlight the need for a new facility, "that will be the appropriate outcome", he added.

"We need to know the health profile in Bermuda today and make sure the facilities develop a clear response to that profile," he said.

But Mr. Butterfield added that upgrades to the existing structure of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital - which was built in 1965 - could be an alternative to a new facility.

Once the Estate Master Plan is ready, the BHCT will conduct the capital campaign to raise monies for whatever conclusions it draws.

Several companies have already expressed an interest, including the Bank of Bermuda, XL Capital, the ACE Foundation, and the Bank of N.T. Butterfield. The BHCT will continue to cultivate these companies and canvas other potential donors in the months leading up to the final Estate Master Plan, Mr. Butterfield said.

He added that Government was also expected to be a key partner in whatever conclusions are drawn, with Minister of Health Patrice Minors and Cabinet on board.