People claiming medical assistance will have to visit a Government office to be means tested from next week, it was announced yesterday.

Acting Health Minister Philip Perinchief insisted the move was necessary to stop people from abusing the system — but conceded it would be unpopular with some.

Mr. Perinchief revealed the plan yesterday while defending the controversial proposal to close the Government-funded Medical Clinic, which provides healthcare to vulnerable people including the elderly, homeless and mentally ill.

From Monday, people who were previously assessed for indigent status at Bermuda Hospitals Board will have to visit the Department of Financial Assistance in Global House, Church Street.

There, they will have to provide proof of ID, a letter of referral from a medical doctor, a list of medications and, where necessary, a verification via the Department of Immigration. People with savings of more than $5,000 will not be eligible for assistance.

Explaining the new system, Mr. Perinchief said: “It’s to prevent or reduce any likelihood of abuse of the system by those who claim to be indigent. We must have a balance somewhere regarding how we spend the taxpayers’ money.

“A lot of people may feel somewhat disgruntled, but those who meet the criteria will continue to get assistance.”

Health Permanent Secretary Warren Jones added: “There will be people who say ‘you are not going in my pocket’, but if you are sitting there with $35,000 in the bank, we need to be aware.”

Government says the new system is related to the closure of the Medical Clinic, but that the centre’s patients will not be affected at this stage.

It is hoped the scheme will bring a standardised criteria for determining indigent status, meaning that people can apply in one venue for medical assistance, food vouchers, housing allowance or other financial assistance.

Speaking about the Medical Clinic’s closure, Mr. Perinchief said 13 GPs and three other specialists across the Island were now willing to take on its patients.

He said an announcement on how the closure will be handled, including its time scale, would be made next week.

He said volunteers from Red Cross and Meals on Wheels were lined up to provide transportation for patients, and that Government was standing by to provide a minibus service if necessary. “We will not close this clinic until we have every aspect of the healthcare of these patients in place,” he stressed.

Announcing the clinic’s closure in his Throne Speech last year, Dr. Brown said patients’ dignity was being undermined.

Since then, more than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling for it to stay open.

Defending the closure, Mr. Perinchief said: “The fact we would even have a clinic specialised to the indigent is to sectionalise them out of the main population, almost to make a spectacle of them.

“It’s this Minister’s view that those who are less economically well-off ought to receive at least the same level of care in respect of their health.”

Asked why a service many patients claim to be happy with was now being changed, Mr. Perinchief said: “That’s because they don’t know of any even happier alternatives. We think they will be even happier once we roll out their plan.

“I was on a visit to the clinic a couple of weeks ago. The general view is of course that they want to know the details. There are one or two who are uncomfortable on the closure, and they expressed that. Once I’d spoken to them, I wouldn’t say they were enamoured with the idea, but they were far more comfortable.”

Mr. Perinchief said under the existing system Medical Clinic patients can only get treatment on four half-days a week. That will significantly increase when they are transferred to GPs across the Island, he said.

He added that the idea to close the clinic had been around for years. “It’s not a question of going to sleep one night, waking up and saying this sounds like a good idea,” he said.