New legislation is being drawn up to cover social workers, acupuncturists and other professions which are currently unregulated.

Bermuda Health Council (BHeC) aims to improve oversight across the health industry as part of its strategic plan for the next three years, unveiled today. Currently, unregulated professionals in Bermuda include massage therapists, social workers, counsellors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, homeopaths, hypnotherapists, natural wellness workers and practitioners.

BHeC acting CEO Jennifer Attride-Stirling said: "We want to make sure health care professionals are regulated to an acceptable standard all the time.

"If there's a professional body that's overseeing the entry of new practitioners, it makes sure everything's done safely: you have the right equipment, the practitioners have the right level of experience, they're licensed, they're continuing their education, it ensures a minimum level of quality. At the moment, I, Jennifer, could go and set up a clinic for a treatment I make up called 'Jennifer Therapy'.

"There's nothing to prevent me to do that. I could be taking in patients at 'Jennifer Therapy' even if I didn't have any qualifications or any experience, and my therapy didn't work."

A number of businesses are currently unregulated, including dentists' offices, physicians' offices, residential substance, abuse facilities, complementary and alternative medicine offices and medical spas.

Dr. Attride-Stirling said regulations were being worked on and should be in place for all apart from social workers and counsellors by the end of the year. She said she was not aware of any 'dodgy' practitioners operating on the Island in the absence of oversight.

The Ministry of Health is currently in the process of creating legislation for stem cell treatment, which is controversially planned at Premier Dr. Ewart Brown's Brown-Darrell Clinic.

Dr. Brown's scheme has prompted anger at home and abroad from physicians who point to Bermuda's lack of regulations.

Treatment for neurodegenerative disorders, which Brown-Darrell has said it will perform, is experimental and cannot be done in many jurisdictions such as the United States, the UK, Canada and western Europe.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome has previously said stem cell regulations may not be in place by the time the Brown-Darrell Clinic's stem cell facility opens.

He has stated the Ministry is establishing "policy guidelines" but conceded these will not have the teeth of regulations.

Those guidelines were supposed to be in place by the end of May, but the Ministry has repeatedly refused to comment when asked how progress is going. Bermuda Health Council's strategic plan also stresses the importance of equity, to make sure nobody has less access to health care, particularly young unemployed people.

Another issue is sustainability: balancing the need for health care with its cost.

And BHeC will also step up its efforts to be accountable. The group will make itself more accessible to the public and is revamping its website with more information.

However, board Chairman Linda Merritt will not be reversing her decision preventing board minutes from being made public.

The watchdog, formed three years ago, had won praise for its transparency by being one of the few public groups to publish its meeting minutes — only for Progressive Labour Party stalwart Ms Merritt to announce a U-turn when The Royal Gazette ran a campaign calling for greater transparency from public bodies.