A report into healthcare in Bermuda — which secret notes by Health Minister Michael Scott say must be managed and written to avoid embarrassment for Government — will not be released to the public "at this time".

But the Ministry of Health yesterday refused to explain why the Johns Hopkins Medicine International review is not being released, or when people will get the chance to see it.

Permanent Secretary Warren Jones said there would be no comment because a Police investigation was ongoing involving documents which "may have been stolen" from Mr. Scott's office.

It comes after The Royal Gazette revealed how the Minister's minutes on a meeting involving Premier Ewart Brown and health bosses stated the report "could not be taken forward to the public domain".

Mr. Scott's notes — dismissed as grossly inaccurate by Bermuda Hospitals Board — state: "Hopkins Report must be managed, it must be written so that it suits the Government and does not become a document that embarrasses GOB."

A separate report into King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, being carried out by management consultants Kurron Shares, is said by Mr. Scott's notes to be "devastating".

Yesterday, Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson called for the $200,000 Johns Hopkins report, launched in March this year, to be published.

Mrs. Jackson also said Mr. Scott was now in an untenable position, as the board has no faith in his ability to accurately record minutes of a meeting.

This newspaper asked the Ministry of Health and BHB for a copy of the report. BHB deferred comment to the Ministry. Permanent Secretary Warren Jones replied in an e-mail: "Please note that it will not be released to the public at this time."

When The Royal Gazette asked why not, and when exactly it would be released, Mr. Jones replied: "The document that apparently provided the subject for your stories is the subject of an ongoing Police investigation. As such, the Minister will not be providing any comment or supplying any documents to the media at this time."

We argued we were asking for a copy of the Johns Hopkins report — not the document of Mr. Scott's minutes which is now apparently the subject of a Police investigation — but Mr. Jones did not reply.

The Hopkins review was one of a number of issues raised in the meeting on August 18, involving Mr. Scott, the Premier, Mr. Jones, BHB CEO David Hill, chairman Herman Tucker, deputy chairman Wendell Hollis, Kurron Shares boss Corbett Price and Bank of Bermuda CEO and Bermuda Hospitals Charitable Trust chairman Philip Butterfield -apparently calling themselves 'The Saturday Group'.

The 15-page document — labelled 'The Strategic Decisions and Notes of Meeting. Highly Confidential and Secret' — was leaked to this newspaper last week. Excerpts were published yesterday. A few days earlier, Mr. Hill had denied claims from a report by Ombudsman Arlene Brock that BHB members had expressed concern about current levels of political interference.

Responding to yesterday's story, Mrs. Jackson said: "Here is a situation where the decision is taken to rewrite a report by world-renowned Johns Hopkins Medicine International so it does not 'embarrass' the Government.

"What we see in the minutes is a cover-up. People take note. Despite what the Government said last week, political interference at the highest levels in the operations of the hospital appears to be alive and well. Indeed, Health Minister Scott's notes confirm the ombudsman's serious concerns about political interference.

"I am also deeply concerned that the Johns Hopkins findings seem to be described as potentially embarrassing to Government. How has it come to this? What has happened in recent years to cause a report on what was a good mis-sized hospital to be so described?

"How has it come to the point where the Government appears to reject the report by Johns Hopkins because its findings are not good from a public relations point of view? Are we now reduced to a point where we use only consultants whose findings cast the Government in a favourable light?

"The people of Bermuda need to see this report immediately. If it's that bad, then people in Bermuda need to know. After all, this is the only hospital we have."

On Mr. Scott's position, she said: "I am concerned about the internal chemistry among the stakeholders at the hospital. The Bermuda Hospitals Board described the Health Minister's notes of the meeting as 'grossly inaccurate' and 'wholly untrue'.

"This is an extraordinary statement. The BHB has, in effect, said it has no faith in the Minister to accurately record the minutes of a meeting. If you accept that, then the Minister is placed in an untenable position. If not, you have to ask: Who can we believe?"

Mrs. Jackson pointed out that last year Government said the hospital had five years of life left — yet Mr. Scott's notes contained a quote attributed to Mr. Hill that it can be sustained "for as long as we need".

"I am also particularly bothered by the appearance that the Government has been misleading the public on the physical state of the hospital," she added.

"Between the decision to rewrite the Hopkins report and the revelation that the existing hospital can be used for the foreseeable future, it is clear the Government is still operating on the basis of 'We had to mislead you'."

The Ministry did not respond to Mrs. Jackson's comments. The Premier's Press Secretary has said Mr. Scott is handling public comment.

A BHB spokeswoman said yesterday: "The Bermuda Hospitals Board has already made its statement about the Minister's notes. We have nothing to add on this matter."