Nurses fighting for better pay and conditions are not expecting to have their wishes granted until at least after Christmas, their union leader said last night.

Ed Ball, general secretary of the Bermuda Public Services Association, said his members were happy they had done everything they could to raise awareness of their plight and now were waiting the outcome.

He said: "There is nothing new to report whatsoever. With the Christmas break coming up, we have put it on hold.

"But I think the point has been very clearly made by the mere numbers of nurses who took to the streets on Friday.

"They made their statement and now it is up to the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) to come back to us.

"We are not expecting anything else until after Christmas. It is with Health Minister Nelson Bascome, so we will see what happens''.

Scores of nurses demonstrated in Hamilton on Friday before descending on Parliament to present written concerns to Mr. Bascome.

They are fighting a number of issues, not least poor pay and what they claim is an unfair pay structure.

The nurses have had an annual bonus withdrawn this year after nine years of receiving it, and claim they are paid just a dollar more an hour than some high-ranking, yet lesser trained, orderlies.

Mr. Ball said: "The salary review has really kicked this off, although there have been a number of other issues that the nurses have been unhappy about.

"The bonus was something that had already been negotiated in 1991 that has been taken away without discussion. And the salary review was non-negotiable.'' Male registered nurse Tim Bishop was on the march on Friday, along with about a fifth of Bermuda's nursing hospital staff.

He said: "It's not just about money -- it is more about the conditions. We are a caring profession, but we are not treated with respect.

"I think people know that we will not strike or leave sick people in their beds, so we are taken for granted.

"Other unions tend to get better deals because their members can be more militant.'' Mr. Bascome said he sympathised with the nurses and supported their cause, and promised he would act on their concerns as soon as possible.

But last night he did not return calls to The Royal Gazette to outline how the talks were progressing.

However, Shadow Health Minister Kim Young said it was imperative for Government to solve the problems as quickly as possible.

And she urged Mr. Bascome to carry out a wider investigation into the running of both St. Brendan's and King Edward VII Memorial hospitals.

Mrs Young said: "In August this year, the doctors employed by the BHB took industrial action over their salaries and their long hours of work.

"In the summer, there was limited diagnostic testing due to short staffing and lack of holiday relief.

"Now, we have nurses publicly protesting over their salaries and working conditions.

"Is all this due to poor management -- the hiring of holiday relief and insufficient staff to have a full complement of staff at the hospital? "Is our health being compromised by poor management practises at the hospital? "The Minister of Health should have a full investigation into the administration of the hospital.

"The programme management system that has been introduced at the hospital is not working.'' HEALTH HTH