A Bermudian nurse's promotion to a King Edward VII Memorial Hospital management position has been plucked from her by an arbitrator's decision.

And an attempt to work through issues raised in the arbitration agreement yesterday by executive members of the Bermuda Hospital Board has failed.

The nurse was named to the post of Memorial Ward unit coordinator following her successful application and interview, said BHB spokeswoman Kendaree Burgess-Fairn last night.

A hospital source said the nurse was Judith Richardson and added that she had Bermudian status and had been married to a Bermudian for ten years.

It is understood Ms Richardson has filled the post in an acting capacity since it became vacant.

However, it is understood that staff members objected because they felt they were better qualified for the management position which governs the day to day running of the ward.

The source said resentment was caused among Ms Richardson's competitors because she won the position without having worked in an assistant management position before as some of them had done.

But the source added Ms Richardson had more acute medical experience than her challengers -- despite not having filled the post of assistant unit coordinator.

And it emerged that other staff nurses had been promoted to even higher supervisory positions in the hospital in the past.

A complaint was filed with the Bermuda Public Services Association and the BHB agreed to go to voluntary arbitration over the matter, said Mrs.

Burgess-Fairn.

SHe added that arbitrator Canon James Francis handed down a decision which the BHB disputed as it felt it encompassed more than the hospital's current practices and collective agreements plus Bermudian law allowed for.

It is understood that Canon Francis' decision was for the BHB to remove the successful applicant from her new post and re-advertise the position internally.

Ms Richardson is also a member of the BPSA, The Royal Gazette has learned, and she is not allowed to apply for the position under the arbitration agreement.

The BHB met with the BPSA again yesterday in an attempt to resolve technical issues within the decision but came to the conclusion that it had no recourse and was bound by the arbitrator's decision.

Meanwhile some hospital staff were threatening to take industrial action which is understood to have been called off following the BHB's decision to fulfil the arbitration agreement.

Arbitration encompassed well-defined terms, noted Mrs. Burgess-Fairn, and an arbitrator had to consider all of them in making a decision.

Unfortunately there is no process in place to allow for appeals of an arbitrator's decision outside of the Supreme Court under the Labour Relations Act, Mrs. Burgess-Fairn pointed out.

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