doctors -- on the Island.

They do not feel there is enough accountability within the medical profession.

And they believe victims of negligence should be paid higher compensation.

These were some of the results of a survey conducted this year by a group formed to keep an eye on medical care in Bermuda.

More than 1,000 people reportedly answered the 17-question survey, made available at businesses Island-wide.

The results indicated that hundreds of Bermudians were dissatisfied with medical care with nearly half the 1,060 respondents having gone abroad for treatment.

But Health Watch co-founder Mr. Edward Fisher said the "real meat and message'' was in yet-to-be-released comments made by 70 percent of the respondents, some of which were three pages long.

The group wanted to publish them, but was first seeking legal advice on the implications, he said.

"It is common knowledge that significant numbers of local residents have been forsaking the local system in favour of overseas care,'' said Mr. Fisher.

"This is detrimental because every dollar voluntarily spent for health care services overseas, which is competently available locally, is a dollar unnecessarily lost to the betterment of the Bermuda system.

"This sampling of public opinion, we believe, will go a long way towards explaining why patients are exercising their rights as consumers in favour of other systems.'' The largest group responding to the survey was women between the ages of 21 and 35 (32 percent).

Mr. Fisher said the issue of accountability was one issue which drew "near total consensus'' with only 11 percent of the respondents feeling the medical system was accountable to the paying patient.

Eighty-two percent believed higher compensation for victims who successfully sue would improve the diligence of medical professionals.

And if the Bermuda Hospitals Board was legislated greater powers to control the quality of care, it would go a long way towards improving residents' confidence.

They felt medical practitioners should not be policing themselves, he said, noting that according to the Bermuda Medical Society, a doctor had never been disciplined for negligence.

Some 91 percent believed "the best specialists, regardless of nationality, should be allowed to practise here, thereby offering more choice of care,'' he said.

Mr. Fisher said Health Watch would be holding regular meetings at its Pitts Bay Road office and intended to lobby Government for changes to medical legislation.

"I think that the powers that be would be well-advised to realise the public have strong opinions on health issues and that the ball is in their court,'' he said.

Health Watch would also be offering a hotline for people experiencing problems with the health-care system.

He noted that membership, which costs $5, had jumped from three -- Mr. Fisher, his wife Jennifer and Mr. Eugene Carmichael -- to more than 300.

Mr. Fisher, owner of Images hair salon, and his wife, a competitive runner, formed Health Watch following an inquest last year into the tragic death of their young son Justin. A Coroner's jury had determined Justin's death was "aggravated by a lack of professional care'' at the hospital.