Union officials are set to hold emergency talks with hospital chiefs today in a bid to avert possible strike action by nursing staff at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

And representatives from both sides are confident that enough progress in resolving staff concerns will be made in the coming week to quash the threat of industrial action.

Yesterday Bermuda Public Service Association assistant general secretary Stephen Emery confirmed that he had met with Bermuda Hospital Board chairman Raymonde Dill to map out a timetable for talks.

And while both men refused to speculate on possible solutions to staff concerns, they agreed they had good reason to be confident in settling the dispute well before possible strike action is taken. On Thursday the BPSA issued an ultimatum to the board, saying that, unless progress is made within the next seven days, a 21-day industrial action notice would kick in.

Nursing staff at the hospital claim there has been a breakdown in communication at the hospital in the last six months since the introduction of a new management structure.

And they are also backing demands for a redundancy package by four former senior nurses who lost their jobs in the shake-up. The Bermuda Hospitals Board has remained adamant that, because the four were offered alternative positions on the same salary, they do not qualify for a redundancy payment.

The collective agreement made between the BHB and the BPSA states that redundancy is stricly defined as a loss of employment.

A spokeswoman for the board added that, because of a shortage of local nursing staff, every effort had been made to keep the four Bermudians on at the facility.

Six other nurses laid off last year have agreed to accept alternative positions or an enhanced early retirement scheme.

Last night Mr. Emery said: "I have had discussions with the chairman of the board and also the director of human resources.

"We now have something in place for a Monday meeting. It looks as though things are moving along very nicely but I don't want to muddy the waters at this point.'' Mr. Dill remained equally diplomatic, refusing to speculate on whether the board is willing to change its current position on redundancy payments.

"I don't think it would be fair for me to answer that,'' he said. "But I am optimistic. We have had discussions and we now have a plan in place which will kick off at the beginning of next week.

"At this stage both parties are willing to cooperate so I am optimistic. I am confident based on the cooperation that the two parties have shown over the last 24 hours and I am sure that there will be enough progress made in the next week to satisfy the keenest eye.''