The Health Ministry yesterday rebuffed criticisms that it failed to provide sufficient information about the closure of the Medical Clinic, but admitted it faced difficulties because civil servants only found out about the closure days before it was announced in the Throne Speech.

On October 27 last year, Dr. Ewart Brown won the leadership battle against former Premier Alex Scott. Dr. Ewart Brown was sworn in on Monday, October 30 and after much rewriting, the Governor read the speech on Friday, November 3 one week after Premier Dr. Ewart Brown took office.

In his Throne Speech, the newly elected Premier said the closure of the Medical Clinic, formally known as the indigent clinic at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, was to save the patients' dignity and to end the practice of health care based on a person's financial status.

Permanent Secretary of Health Warren Jones said yesterday that any confusion that persisted was only due to circumstances and the Ministry has worked diligently with a joint committee to organise the closure on July 13 as seamlessly as possible.

"The Premier came into the office with initiatives that he wanted to see through," said Mr. Jones. "In a normal situation we would have been working on the change behind the scenes before the speech."

"But the Premier is the Premier and with a change of leader there was a change of direction. As the civil service we had to recognise this. We heard the direction of the Government and we set out delivering it."

While a committee composed of 13 members of the Bermuda Hospitals Board and eight Government employees met on a weekly basis to discuss issues with the clinic and the patients, confusion persisted in the public.

Jenny Brookes, who organised both a petition and a walk on Cabinet after speaking to scared patients had said information was what people wanted. Though the Government released a pamphlet in May of this year, questions remained.

Yesterday, in an interview with , newly appointed Minister of Health Michael Scott and Mr. Jones sought to clarify any misconceptions there may remain for the public and patients.

According to Mr. Jones only two things will change for active patients, meaning anyone who visited the clinic in the last year for a doctor.

One is that those who visited doctors at the clinic will now be able to visit any of the 21 doctors on the Government's list of participating physicians and streamlining the financial assistance process is the second.

Now those considered indigent will be able to receive assistance for housing, rent, food vouchers and medical care all in one place- The Department of Financial Assistance in The Global House.

And those who previously received supplies will continue to access them without cost from the Hospital stores as will those who visited the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for medications.

Finally, aiming at campaigners who warned that the Emergency Room would be inundated by patients, Mr. Scott revealed that the Ministry was monitoring the department and said there had been no striking increase in visits since the closure on July 13.

"We have monitored it (the Emergency room) for any impact and, at this point, there has been no spike in the former indigent clinic patients, but we will continue to monitor it, " he added.

"The closure of the clinic is about the culture we are trying to create. It is the culture to which the Government continually refers to which is the one of doing good."