Bermuda Hospitals Board is to undergo a “clinical and corporate governance review” — with Ombudsman Arlene Brock providing comment on the final report.The board announced yesterday it was seeking bids from companies interested in conducting the inquiry and pledged to make at least some of the findings public.BHB put its head doctor, Donald Thomas III, on administrative leave on July 12, without revealing the reason why, and said it was conducting a review in relation to his suspension.Asked yesterday if the clinical and corporate governance review included the review involving Dr Thomas, a board spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette: “The review will include the chief of staff’s responsibility area, in addition to other clinical and corporate functions.”BHB Chairman Wendall Brown said in a statement: “The board is committed to ensuring the highest standards of governance.“We are already initiating a formal procurement process to select a qualified, experienced organisation to carry out this review.“We expect the review to take several weeks and it will cover both clinical and corporate areas.”He continued: “I recognise there will be public interest in this report and I would like to be open about the process we are undertaking from the start.“BHB is not funded solely by public funds; we are a quango. For acute care services, we earn fees from both the private and government insurance programmes, based on usage. BHB also has to compete for many lines of business with private providers both here in Bermuda and overseas.“For this reason there may be commercially sensitive, as well as confidential patient and employee information, that prevents the full report from being made public.“We have heard the community ask for accountability, however, so we are very pleased and grateful that the Ombudsman for Bermuda will be involved as a critical friend on behalf of the Bermuda public.“Ms Brock will not only review the process but will have the full report to comment on and her comments will be public. BHB will make public a summary with recommendations and actions.”Venetta Symonds, BHB’s chief executive officer, said it had been clear since she became CEO four months ago that “this is the perfect time for a review of this nature”.“So much has been achieved by BHB staff to improve our services, but we are listening to our patients and the community, and we know our focus has to be improving clinical quality further while driving down costs and being accountable to Bermuda for our service and activities,” she said.“I believe we can raise the bar on clinical care by ensuring our clinical and corporate decision-making process is transparent, fair, collaborative, evidence-based and considers the system-wide implications in order to innovate and improve efficiencies for Bermuda as a whole.“A clinical and corporate governance review will identify what more we need to do to strengthen that framework.”Mrs Symonds said Bermuda Health Council’s recent report on the rising cost of healthcare highlighted the need for BHB to do more with less.“BHB already has memorandums of understanding in place with private and government insurers that cap the amount we can charge over the course of the year.“The National Health Plan has been introduced that requires us to modernise, we have a mental health plan that is changing how we deliver services and we are forging ahead with vital preparations for transitioning acute care services to the new facility in 2014. Doing nothing is simply not an option.”The board CEO added that though BHB could improve, the Island should be proud of its 1,800 staff and their achievements.“We have the highest levels of accreditation with Canadian and US organisations and the quality of procurement and design of the KEMH redevelopment project has led to an international award,” she said.The Ombudsman previously carried out an investigation into allegations of discrimination against medics at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, resulting in her November 2007 report, A Tale of Two Hospitals.Useful websites: www.bhb.bm and www.ombudsman.bm.