Desperate patients of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital?s Medical Clinic ? a special unit that provides vital healthcare to the needy free of charge ? are launching a public campaign to halt Premier Ewart Brown?s decision to shut down the facility.

The group is now circulating a petition and hopes to collect thousands of signatures condemning the proposal. A web site promoting the campaign will also be created shortly.

Bobby Jones, who has a heart condition and has been attending the clinic for five years, said: ?Something needs to be done to stop this. We are being overruled by a bunch of people who don?t know what they?re talking about. Somebody has to stand up for us.?

Another patient, who asked not to be named, said it was important for the general public to realise how essential the facility was for the less well-off.

?I don?t think many people actually realise it?s there,? the patient said.

?But it really is an essential service and Government isn?t listening to the centre?s stakeholders ? the patients who use it and the medical professionals who run it.There?s been no consultation.

?Government hasn?t heard our voice so we need a louder voice ? we need to be heard.?

The campaign also has the backing of Dr. Catherine Wakely, the Medical Clinic physician forced to resign last week after penning a letter to questioning the closure.

Informed of the campaign yesterday, Dr. Wakely said: ?I?m delighted that the issue of closing the Medical Clinic is now being openly discussed amongst the Bermudian people.

?The clinic runs for the benefit of all Bermudians. When sickness strikes it is surprising how quickly life can change, how quickly benefits can be lost.

?We should all stop and think for one moment about how we would feel if this was us left without health insurance, and then respond as our conscience tells us to.?

Protestors have ridiculed Government?s sole reason for scrapping the service ? that it undermines the dignity of its patients ? and have also mocked as unworkable an alternative proposal to farm patients out to private physicians.

They also insist Government is steamrolling the decision through without consulting either patients or staff, and that the vast majority of clients would prefer to be treated at the centre.

And that argument is backed up by the findings of an independent inquiry leaked to the this week.

Of 135 patients questioned in a 2003 survey, 130 respondents ? a massive 96.7 per cent ? urged that the clinic?s services be extended. Just four clients said they would prefer to be treated by a private physician of their choice.

As a result of that study, the clinic extended its hours of operation in 2005 and a third full-time doctor was recently appointed.

Government first announced its intention to close the clinic last November, arguing that patients were having their dignity ?undermined?. Clinic staff have since been told that the facility will cease operating in June.

Government believes clients should sign up with independent physicians, declaring that every citizen should have ?the practitioner of their choice?.

But critics of that plan argue that many of the clinic?s clients are unable to make regular appointments because they lack transport or a telephone. Many surgeries are also inaccessible to people in wheelchairs, they say. At present, free transport to the Medical Clinic is provided, patients can turn up for treatment without making a prior appointment, and an extensive range of treatments are all available under one roof.

Despite public condemnation of the scheme Dr. Brown this week confirmed that his position has not changed.

In a televised address on Monday night, he said: ?It is not right for people who may not have the funds to afford the doctor of their choice to be herded into one centre and labelled in the pursuit of their right to proper medical attention.

?Our plan to close the clinic bearing the name ?indigent? is designed to remove the stigma of this practice and to add dignity to the lives of people who may have fallen on hard times and for whom society should provide help and not labels.

?Our plan allows for Bermudians of any economic circumstances to attend the doctor of their choice.?

But last night critics claimed Dr. Brown ? who runs his own private practice ? was inventing problems as part of a personal vendetta against the clinic and the hospital. They also pointed out that the Medical Clinic no longer bears the name ?indigent?.

Mr. Jones said: ?Dr. Brown says that every patient should have their own choice of physician ? well, my choice of physician is down at the medical centre ? what gives Dr. Brown the right to deny me my choice just because he wants it closed down?

?I don?t mind going to the clinic at all ? I enjoy it, as do a lot of people. It?s not degrading or demeaning and the quality of care is excellent ? I?m still alive aren?t I?

?But I think there?s something wrong with Dr. Brown - he can?t be the one deciding on people?s personal health issues and that?s the problem here. None of us have been consulted. It?s a similar situation to when they wanted to put the new hospital in the Botanical Gardens - they really should consult the people first.?

Mr. Jones? concerns were echoed by octogenarian Gwendolyn Bean, who attends the centre on a monthly basis.

?It?s necessary, it?s needed, I need it very much, and it?s certainly not undignified,? she said.

?I like going down there because I sometimes meet up with friends and we?re able to get a cup of tea. It?s part of something that Bermuda should be offering to the people who built this country - it breaks my heart that it?s closing because the clinic is the only place I can go.

?I drive right to the door and straight away there?s somebody there waiting for me with a wheelchair. If I have to go anywhere else in the hospital, say for an X-ray, there?s somebody there to push me around. That?s not going to happen if I have to see a doctor in town first.

?Right now I can get an appointment when I want. This is going to put a lot of people out because some doctors already have a lot of patients and you just can?t get an appointment when you want it.

?I think Dr. Brown should leave this sort of decision to the medical people. He doesn?t even visit us down there at any time.?

Earlier this week the e-mailed questions to Health Minister Phil Perinchief.

We asked when the decision to close the centre was made, the reasoning behind that decision, and if any other parties had been consulted.

We also asked if Government could provide any evidence to demonstrate that patients found the clinic degrading.

Yesterday, a Ministry spokeswoman said Government intends to address the issue at a post-Budget press conference later today.

This newspaper also e-mailed questions to the Bermuda Hospitals Board asking its views on the closure and whether it had been involved in the decision-making process.

A BHB spokeswoman would only say: ?Closing the medical outpatients clinic was a policy decision announced in the Throne Speech.

? The hospital?s focus is now to work towards a smooth transition of service for patients who currently use the facility.