Former medical clinic user says new system is failing him
By Tim Smith
A homeless man is calling for a face-to-face meeting with the Premier to discuss the controversial closure of the Medical Clinic and the system which has replaced it.
Walter Howes, a longtime critic of the clinic's demise, says his frustration has boiled over after his medical notes went missing under the new system, in which he is prescribed to a private doctor.
He wants to sit down with Ewart Brown on neutral territory so that the Premier can fully explain why the facility was closed and how his future healthcare plan for the poor will work.
And Mr. Howes, 53, warns he will keep coming back to annoy Dr. Brown in the media unless he agrees to meet him and give answers.
The Premier's Press Secretary Glenn Jones yesterday advised The Royal Gazette Mr. Howes needs to contact Dr. Brown's executive aide Jamahl Simmons to see if his request can be granted.
Dr. Brown has consistently said the clinic needed to close to protect the dignity of its patients. However, Mr. Howes and other former patients complain they were never consulted over the move and were left in the dark for months about the new system.
Mr. Howes says his missing medical records are a symptom of how the move to allocate patients to private doctors had not been properly thought through.
"I have a problem with my medical records," Mr. Howes said. "The doctor I have now is not the one I was prescribed. I have done tests with my doctor but they have not found my records for two months. Why has it taken so long?
"I'm entirely fed up with the proceedings. Up to date, they have not satisfied me in any way.
"He (the Premier) can bring all his people, his bodyguards or whoever. I'm not going to see them. They have to come and see me. We can meet somewhere in a park.
"If I had a meeting with my mate (the Premier) — he and I are what you call old friends — and the PLP's admin., the BHB, if all those stakeholders are willing to sit down with me to show me what methods they proposed ... they need to define their processes from day one. I'm a recipient from the structure. If they want to talk, put their team together, then we can talk.
"How do you plan to straighten it out? If you can tell me those things, then we can see.
"If they can't do that, put a statement in the paper saying they don't want to talk and I will come back and annoy them."
He added: "Tell them even from the grave I do my best work."
The Medical Clinic, formerly known as the Indigent Clinic, was a Government-funded unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital providing care for vulnerable people including the homeless, elderly and mentally ill.
It closed last July, a few weeks after up to 50 protesters marched on the House of Assembly, where they took part in an angry confrontation with Dr. Brown, and despite a 3,500-plus name petition being presented to Acting Health Minister Phillip Perinchief in favour of the clinic.
Mr. Howes, who was a clinic patient for about ten years, used to undergo regular blood tests with its GPs.
Giving his thoughts on the bad feeling, he said: "The bottom line is that the clinic should have never closed.
"One of the problems is they didn't have enough history based on the clinic. They closed it down and replaced it with a system. They should have done their homework and had all the infrastructure in place.
"They treated the people like fools. Whether it's arrogance, incompetence or political nonsense, I don't know. They didn't set up consultation. That created a big problem. The Health Ministers involved should have set this down from the beginning.
"Government needs to look at the whole medical process involving the homeless. This, to me, is personal because I have to deal with this."
Mr. Jones said probably more than 100 people have communicated with the Premier through Mr. Simmons since he was appointed to his post two months ago.
A Bermuda Hospitals Board spokeswoman said if a meeting was set up BHB would be happy to attend at the request of the Health Minister.
