to replace Dr. Tom Moore when his contract expires in January, the president of the society said yesterday.

"If there is a significant need, then we'll have to obviously look at that and be sensitive to what the community wishes,'' Dr. Ian Fulton told The Royal Gazette .

But the society's contract with Dr. Moore, an Irishman who reportedly has the only musculo-skeletal practice on the Island, will not be extended, Dr. Fulton said.

"That's between employer and employee,'' Dr. Fulton said when asked why Dr.

Moore's contract will not be extended.

Bermuda's chronic back and neck pain sufferers -- who say Dr. Moore is one of only two specialists who performs the kind of bone manipulations that give them relief -- have publicly expressed concern that the practice will be lost to the Island.

And patient Mr. Eldon Trimingham said the 45-member society is in "a blatant conflict of interest'' in deciding not to sponsor a renewal of Dr. Moore's work permit. "It's the business they're losing that raise the objections,'' he said in a complaint echoed by other patients.

But Dr. Fulton said the reverse is true. "There is no incentive for us to get rid of Dr. Moore on financial grounds,'' he said. In fact, the doctor's contract provides the society with "a significant amount of money'' that is used to provide interest-free loans to medical students studying abroad.

Dr. Fulton feels the Island is well-served with four orthopaedic surgeons, but has told unhappy patients to write to the society. "If we feel there is sufficient need, then...we would employ another person,'' he said.

If the Medical Society did not hire another specialist, perhaps another body could, he said.

Dr. Moore was told at the outset of his three-year contract that it would not be renewed, as was Englishman Dr. John Tanner, who worked on the Island for three years before Dr. Moore.

The society does not always know what specialities Bermudians are training in abroad and does not want to hire a specialist on the understanding the work will last longer than three years, he said.

Back pain sufferers interviewed by The Royal Gazette said other than Dr.

Moore, their only source of relief is Dr. Annabel Carter, who works on a "limited'' work permit from sports physician Dr. Caroline Hammond's office.