The number of intensive care beds at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital was yesterday slashed -- because of a lack of nursing staff.

Two beds, a quarter of the total, have been shut down -- leaving just one intensive care bed per 10,000 people on the Island.

And last night a medical insider warned that intensive care beds being cut to the bone could put patients at risk.

He said: "It's the only unit on the Island -- we could have seven ventilated patients arriving, which is not unusual. It's a great concern -- the whole community should be concerned about this.'' The Intensive Care Unit deals with the most seriously ill patients -- many of whom require life support machines to breathe -- and needs a high staff-to-patient ratio.

Bermuda Hospitals Board chairman Raymonde Dill did not return a call from The Royal Gazette yesterday. And Health Minister Nelson Bascome could not be contacted last night.

The shock cut comes only weeks after Mr. Dill insisted there was no staffing crisis at the hospital.

Meanwhile, acting Shadow Health and Social Services Minister Cole Simons said: "Given that the hospital is an integral part of Bermuda's healthcare programme -- this is not good enough and I'm very disturbed.

"I believe that if management does not address the issues at executive level and if those issues are not resolved quickly and efficiently, the services provided by the hospital will be compromised.'' "A lot of issues have arisen recently with the retirement of the chief executive Sheila Manderson and the succession planning -- as a good management organisation, they're falling short.'' Last month, The Royal Gazette reported claims that the emergency department had been forced to operate with too few nurses.

It was claimed morale was low, sickness rates were high and that staff were quitting the hospital in droves.

Mr. Dill said then that there were vacancies in "a number of areas'' -- but that staff working overtime could cover the gaps.

But a hospital insider insisted that the hospital was in the grip of a staffing crisis -- and that it was set to worsen, putting patient care at risk.

The staffer added that, in one department alone, staffing was set to drop by more than a third by the end of the year.