A newly appointed hospital boss has pledged that he will strive to resolve a long standing nurses dispute as soon as possible.

Raymonde Dill, new chairman of the Bermuda Hospitals Board, in a statement to The Royal Gazette , explained that the row over ten former nursing staff demanding a redundancy pay-off would be resolved "very shortly''.

But Mr. Dill refused to speculate on whether or not the board was prepared to budge on its initial stance that no cash pay-off would be made.

All ten nursing staff lost their jobs following the implementation of a re-structuring programme at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last year.

All ten were offered alternative posts at the facility and were given two months paid leave to decide whether or not to accept the offer.

The nurses, who have drafted in the Bermuda Public Services Association to act on their behalf, argue that, because their original jobs have been effectively axed, they should be eligible for a redundancy payment.

"As the new chairman of the Bermuda Hospitals Board I have familiarised myself with the details of the dispute and, having done so, I am committed to seeing it brought to a conclusion,'' Mr. Dill said.

"I agree with the statements made by the BPSA General Secretary, Ed Ball, maintaining that this situation has gone on far too long.

"As a former board member, I am aware of the sensitivity of the issues and, in view of the BHB and BPSA's agreement to keep specific details out of the media, I can only say that I have every confidence that this matter will be resolved very shortly.''