Health Minister Patrice Minors last night insisted that the removal of a cardiologist from his hospital post would not put heart attack victims at risk.

Dr. Shane Marshall has left his part-time administrative post as Director of Cardiology at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) and is believed to have opened his own ultrasound business.

Although he still performs medical duties at the hospital it is understood that he no longer keeps a permanent office there, meaning there is no guarantee of a cardiologist being on site in the event of an emergency heart attack patient being brought in.

Ms Minors told she had ?no concerns? about that, adding ?it?s not an issue of whether there?s a permanent person there or not?.

She said: ?The services continue to be provided whether there is a head of cardiology or not. The fact that there is no longer a chief of cardiology has nothing to do with the services of cardiology being provided.?

There are emergency physicians at the hospital who are trained to deal with heart attacks. But Opposition Health Minister Louise Jackson claimed that was not good enough. ?There is nothing like a physician who has done a speciality in an area of medicine,? she said. ?I know he (Dr. Marshall) was no longer going to have his office there and it does give me great concern because obviously this is the only hospital we have.

?The people of this country deserve better than that. If this is a hospital that?s supposed to be accredited surely the basic specialists should be on board there. We really should be covering all of our bases.?

She said the removal of an on-site cardiologist at KEMH was ?another blow? to patients and that she still had concerns about the Island?s lack of a community geriatrician and an oncologist.

?If I knew there was a hospital on an island and they didn?t have a cardiologist there I?d be very concerned if I was a visitor or a resident,? she added.

Ms Minors would not comment on whether a new Director of Cardiology would be appointed at KEMH and nor would the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB).

Dr. Tiina Kaigas, BHB Chief of Staff, said in a statement: ?BHB offers no comment with respect to Dr. Marshall. Our cardiac care unit continues to offer diagnostic services to patients and confirms there has been no reduction in the level of service provided to clients.

?In addition, two full-time, on-Island cardiologists with hospital privileges provide care to cardiac patients.

?There is a full cadre of emergency physicians trained to deal with cardiac arrests who treat patients presenting with urgent symptoms in the emergency department

Repeated efforts to speak to Dr. Marshall about why he left his post have proved unsuccessful. It is believed he was ousted because his new business would compete directly with the hospital.

Anthony Richardson, chairman of BHB, did not respond to a request for comment on the possible risk to heart attack patients. Norma Smith, from the Bermuda Heart Foundation, said: ?We would have no comment on that. It?s a hospital matter.?