HEALTH care on the island is in a critical condition in which some patients are forced to provide and administer their own medication in a rundown hospital which operates on second-rate standards of accreditation, it has been claimed.

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson highlighted the observations after obtaining a copy of minutes detailing an August 2007 meeting of the 'Saturday Group', made up of Government representatives and health chiefs, including Premier Ewart Brown, then-Health Minister Michael Scott and Bermuda Hospitals Board CEO David Hill.

Issues raised in the report, which was compiled by Mr. Scott and headlined 'Highly Confidential & Secret', were first made public after it was leaked to The Royal Gazette last November.

But after reading the damaging document, Mrs. Jackson yesterday said it raised other concerns that needed to be highlighted.

She noted that, according to Mr. Scott's notes, design specialists Canon claimed that King Edward VII Memorial Hospital had "only five years of life" three years ago.

"We can sustain this hospital for as long as we need to is view of CEO Hill," Mr. Scott noted.

Questioning why Government chose to take the advice of an administrator over a team of architectural specialists ¿ plans for a new hospital were shelved in 2006 ¿ Mrs. Jackson said: "The place is falling apart in front of everyone's eyes. There are rooms with leaks, no running water or air conditioning ¿ it's in a shocking state.

"And yet we have heard nothing about plans for a new hospital and instead Government is focusing on building Urgent Care Centres. There is a case for UCCs but they are a luxury. Government is going to spend millions of dollars on them while our one acute care hospital is falling down."

Mrs. Jackson also pointed out that ¿ according to Mr. Scott's notes ¿ the group was informed by Mr. Hill of "medical delivery errors". She said that, when she raised this issue in the House of Assembly earlier this year, Health Minister Nelson Bascome accused her of telling untruths.

"I knew that there were medical delivery errors because I was aware of patients not receiving medication because the hospital does not stock the medication. The patients were having to bring in their own medication and, in some cases such as insulin, had to administer it themselves," Mrs. Jackson said.

"I know personally of one patient who had to do this. When I raised this in the House of Assembly, Mr. Bascome came back and said I was not telling the truth. And yet in these notes we have the CEO admitting that this was happening."

"I have spoken to doctors who say there isn't an accredited hospital in the world that would allow this to happen ¿ it's the whole reason for going to hospital, which brings me to another point. Mr. Scott's notes read, 'Is there any reason we use Canadian accreditation? Canadian accreditation suits us. US standard we would not be able to satisfy. Bermuda can move towards the US standard.'

"Our only hospital should be accredited to the highest possible standard."

Mrs. Jackson said Mr. Bascome had since e-mailed her apologising for his error, although she said she will be asking for a public apology in the same forum in which he called her a liar.

Mrs. Jackson also expressed alarm at another detail in the minutes which reads: "Dr. Diane Kelly is a Quality Standards Director from Kurron she is preparing a report based on her review and tour of the plant. The reports out of KEMH will be devastating."

Noting that the meeting was held almost one years ago, Mrs. Jackson said: "What has happened to this report? Can we ever expect to see it?"

And she also questioned why health chiefs commissioned Johns Hopkins to carry out another study if, as Mr. Scott noted, "the report will be of limited value".

Mrs. Jackson also said she had been told that patients had been deprived certain medicines because they were too expensive, and that healthcare staff were leaving because of low standards at the facility.

But she said she did support one observation, apparently made by Dr. Brown during the meeting.

"The Premier, when opening the meeting said something that I totally agree with and hope that he will follow through on," she said.

"He invited the meeting partners 'to commit to open and frank discussion, noting that in Bermuda moneyis not the issue rather it is the failure to confront issues head on, posturing and pretending things are happening leading to delay'.

"I sincerely hope that the members of this group who appear to be the major players holding the real reins of power within our healthcare system ¿ will move with speed to rebuild, renovate and improve the appalling conditions at KEMH. I hope that they will not, as our Premier has said, continue to posture and pretend that things are happening leading to delay.

"I can only pray that this hospital follows the lead of accredited hospitals in developed countries worldwide which diagnose medical conditions which need medication, prescribe that medication, and have health care specialits to administer that medication. I also hope that the hospital will seek to raise its level and seek a higher standard of accreditation than currently exists."

Other failings noted in the document include finances ("shaky getting worse"), clinical ("unsafe"), managerial ("no process in place"), staff ("wrong people in wrong place"), and accountability ("none").