A senior civil servant suspended at the start of this year has left his post — but Government will not say if he resigned or was sacked.

Melvin Dickinson faced disciplinary proceedings for his performance as manager of the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged.

He has now left the NOSPC but Civil Service head Kenneth Dill refused to comment on the reasons for his departure.

Major Dill said: "As of July 13, 2009, Dr. Dickinson ceased to be an employee of the Bermuda Government. That's as much as I am prepared to say."

Dr. Dickinson was appointed to run the NOSPC at the start of this decade and was given the additional job of senior abuse registrar last year, after the Senior Abuse Register Act became law.

Shadow Health and Seniors Minister Louise Jackson said yesterday that seniors — and the wider public — deserved to be told why Dr. Dickinson left.

"This man obviously was not performing," she alleged. "Surveys conducted in 2004 showed very clearly that the public didn't even know the office was there."

Mrs. Jackson called on Government to be transparent and reveal what led to Dr. Dickinson's suspension, as she said the senior abuse registrar role was crucial to ensuring the protection of elderly people.

The Opposition MP cited the cases of elderly women Auntie Em and Miss C — both alleged victims of abuse — as examples of how the NOSPC failed in its duties in recent years.

"The public needs to be assured that, with the next person in that role and managing the NOSPC, there is not going to be a repetition in any way," she said.

A source told The Royal Gazette that the disciplinary hearing involving Dr. Dickinson resulted in a recommendation that he be moved to another department but the transfer did not take place.

The source said one of the reasons for the proceedings was that he had made little progress in setting up the senior abuse register.

"He was said to be underperforming but he claimed they [the NOSPC] were understaffed and that's why he couldn't do all the things they wanted him to do."

A second source said questions were raised during the hearing about how Dr. Dickinson handled last year's investigation into 'Miss C', a vulnerable 76-year-old woman feared to have been abused in her own home by two men.

Dr. Dickinson worked as a human resource manager at the Department of Education and used to run his own business, High End Entertainment, before he joined the NOSPC.

He was previously a musician but gave that up in 1984 to go to school overseas, where he obtained several degrees, including a PhD in administration and management.

Earlier this summer, responsibility for the NOSPC moved from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Health.

Health permanent secretary Warren Jones told The Royal Gazette: "Dr. Dickinson is no longer with Government."

He said John Payne, the policy analyst who helped develop the Senior Abuse Register Act became acting manager of the NOSPC and senior abuse registrar on August 3.

Dr. Dickinson could not be reached and his lawyer, Llewellyn Peniston, did not return calls.