November 24, 2012Dear Sir,The Government Vet’s recommendation to ban dogs from the UK has forced me to write my first ever letter to the Editor.Bermuda has unique ties with the UK. It has been a major source for many years for residents looking to bring in puppies because of in-breeding concerns (the suggestion that residents in future import dogs from New Zealand and Australia instead is unrealistic in cost and could be cruel in terms of the journey). Furthermore, a number of Bermuda residents travel back and forward to the UK with their families and their dogs as I do (spending the summers there, which under the proposal would no longer be allowable). Nor should we forget that many of the senior and other management personnel are hired by our exempted companies and come from the UK with families and quite often their dogs too, so we would unnecessarily present them with yet another reason not to come to Bermuda at a time when we need to make Bermuda as attractive as we can.The UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), a very well respected agency responsible for protecting the welfare of some 60 million people has, after careful and considered review of the recent “science”, decided to allow dogs to enter the UK from the EU, and listed non-EU countries (including the US and Canada), after one rabies shot and a 21-day waiting period. The main reason for this is the technological advances that have been made over the years in the effectiveness of rabies shots.If Bermuda were to ban dogs from the UK, what we would effectively be saying is that the recent “science” does not support DEFRA’s position, the UK does not know what it’s doing and what’s more, it is putting at risk its 60 million residents. It is just absurd to me that one man, our Government Vet, can come to that conclusion for Bermuda. If we do not accept DEFRA’s position, then we need to have an indisputable case as to just what the risks posed to us here are in allowing dogs’ continued entry from the UK. It’s not enough just to say the UK will “violate international standards” and the new regulations would be “similar to other countries”. We are, after all, “unlike “other countries”, very closely connected to the UK. We should, unless a definitive case can be made to the contrary, be following the well researched and informed position taken by DEFRA on behalf of the UK Government and its people. Let’s not forget that the UK is one of the few countries that has been declared rabies-free along with Australia and Antarctica and there have been no cases in the UK of rabies being transmitted by a dog over the last 100 years. It seems to me, then, that the UK knows what it’s doing in this respect, more so than any other country. If ever a case were to be reported in the UK and their new policy were put in question, we could rightly then consider a ban. Surely that would be the sensible approach? I suspect the UK itself would stop exports then in any event.It’s not about how young/old puppies should be in order to be allowed into Bermuda as implied by quotes attributed to the SPCA and Bermuda Kennel Club chairpersons in your November 23 article. Quite simply, there is no change required to the current policy which requires a DEFRA vet to issue a Health Certificate stating the dog is in good health and that it has not moved outside the UK prior to travelling here, i.e. it has had no exposure to rabies.The change proposed by the Government Vet wouldn’t even be a question of throwing out the baby with the bathwater ... there is no water in the bath ... just the baby to throw out! Surely our politicians have more important things to sort out for our country than for him to be wasting their precious time and energy debating such an ill-conceived change in the current regulations, never mind the cost of the drafting of proposed changes. Rome must be burning ... I hear someone has called for the fiddles! ……Hail Caesar!NOT JUST MY OPINIONPagetHighly accreditedNovember 21, 2011Dear Sir,I am writing to correct an error in the business column written by Mr Nathan Kowalski in The Royal Gazette on Monday, November 21, who assumed that BHB is not accredited because it is not on the Joint Commission International (JCI) website. Bermuda Hospitals Board is accredited by Accreditation Canada, and all our services are measured to the same accreditation standard as hospitals in Canada. Accreditation Canada measures organisations against over 2,600 standards. In fact, we have just had confirmation that we have achieved the highest level of accreditation, something fewer than 20 percent of Canada’s top hospitals achieve. JCI and Accreditation Canada are both accredited by the same body, called ISQua (the International Society of Quality Healthcare). One of the reasons BHB doesn’t use JCI for its hospital-wide accreditation is because Accreditation Canada allows us go through same accreditation process as Canadian hospitals, which gives a better benchmark for how our quality compares internationally. JCI uses a different set of standards for its accreditation process overseas; it is not the same as those used by US hospitals.In additional to the hospital-wide process, specific areas have decided to seek specialist accreditation. This is provided by JCI for our Pathology Department and by the American College of Radiology for our Mammography Department. Our Hyperbaric Service goes through an International Risk Assessment and is endorsed as a preferred provider by the Divers Alert Network. Our acute services also have clinical partnerships with East Coast US hospitals, including Lahey Clinic, Johns Hopkins, and the Partners Healthcare System which includes Massachusetts’s General, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Spaulding. MWI is approved as a City & Guild Learning Centre, is recognised by the Royal Society of Psychiatrists as a training site for psychiatric residents and has a clinical partnership with Howard University.We recognise that as Bermuda’s only hospital it is very important we constantly strive to improve the quality of our care and can demonstrate that the services we provide are at an international standard. We are passionate about providing our community with an internationally-measured, high standard of care.JUDY RICHARDSONChief of Nursing, Quality & RiskBermuda Hospitals BoardForgetting the labourerNovember 15, 2011Dear Sir,Today I would like to discuss the economy of this Island called Bermuda. I wish the politicians would refer to Bermuda as an island and not a country. The Bermuda Government is misleading the public by denying that we are in a crisis with our finances. It is going to lead up to some unrest. It has already started with the unknown persons setting bicycles on fire in Paget that belong to foreign workers, and also the verbal abuse and insults directed to foreign workers because of locals who are out of work. The BIU president Mr Chris Furbert has made a public statement that there are roughly two to three thousand Bermudians out of work and this had to be turned around to help get these people back to work as soon as possible so they can continue to provide for their families and themselves. In the past 12 years the BIU in my opinion has lost their drive for the labourers of Bermuda by not putting in place financial assistance for their members. They should be doing more; after all the BIU officers are not suffering financially. The PLP parliamentarians are not suffering financially either because they are not in a position to be fired or laid off.Premier Cox, you need to stop wasting money on fly by night ideas that was given to you by the past Tourism Minister, Patrice Minors. You are denying that your ministers are politically brain-dead. I am convinced that you believe that a lot of them are unqualified as politicians and when they accept a position they know that they are flying by the seat of their pants. To the back benchers, I cannot believe how you allow your Premier to give Wayne Furbert a ministry, because Wayne was not elected by any PLP supporters. The PLP needs to adjust their name by dropping the word “labour” because they sure are not paying enough attention to the labourers of this island and also the BIU needs to adjust their name because they too are not dedicated to their union workers.Chris Furbert, you are not a fighter for labour. You are just occupying a seat of authority in my opinion; furthermore the Union is sleeping in the same bed as government. Remember this Chris, the Bible says you cannot serve two masters, you have to be loyal to one and that should be the Union in your case. I have more to say but I will save if for another time. Please assist your members financially more than you have in the past and soon rather than later. Mr Roban, I admire you for resigning from being a Cabinet Minister in order to protect the Premier. The Health and Tourism Minister, Mr Zane DeSilva and Mr Wayne Furbert you both should be ashamed of themselves for putting Mr Roban in a compromising position. I feel you two have abused his friendship, and you both should resign from the Cabinet, but I know the Premier would not accept that because she doesn’t have much to pick from. I am looking forward to the next election; it will be the same old, same old.W FOXSmith’s