Dear Sir,This is for the attention of Michael Richmond, Chief of Staff at the Bermuda Hospitals Board.On November 13, my hip replacement surgery was cancelled after being held waiting in the hospital for six hours. This was because of an incoming emergency surgery. My understanding is that many elective surgeries are cancelled at short notice for similar reasons. It appears that the present system is overloaded with a lack of both surgery hours and a lack of bed space. Surely, the hospital could refit the large single rooms into a semi-private facility, which would increase bed allocations and cut down on the rescheduling and distress to the Bermuda community. The rescheduling of my appointment has left me frustrated and disappointed, and will add months of additional lack of mobility for me and a reduction on the quality of life the surgery would have allowed me. The surgeon will not be back on the island until February and I am concerned that I will be once again overlooked. I hope this letter will expedite a review of existing policy. MARGARET KIRKPaget