Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson has questioned Government plans for emergency care centres while renovations to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital have yet to begin.

Mrs. Jackson asked the Speaker of the House of Assembly: "Have you seen any mention of when this hospital is going to be built and renovated? In the Throne Speech not one word was said about the hospital.

"The Urgent Care Centres that the Government has put forward, why would you pour that kind of money into Urgent Care Centres if you are really going to ask this country to believe there has to be changes to the hospital?

"Why in the world spend millions of dollars on emergency care centres? Why are we spending all the money on these centres when we should be taking care of the hospital?"

But Health Minister Nelson Bascome said there were major changes already taking place at the hospital.

"Within our hospital we need some work and I believe that starts with service," he said. "We have worked with the hospital's infrastructure and have gone from the top and have started to make changes, right down to the bottom. Now we have Chiefs of Staff in every discipline, where we have individuals focused on their disciplines and on addressing a number of issues of infrastructure."

He said: "Every complaint which comes into my office, I send it immediately to the Chief Medical Officer, and his timeline is one week."

Mr. Bascome said Government's Health Insurance Plan (HIP) has now commissioned the software 'Spyglass' to process claims. "We can boast that 80 percent of physicians now are receiving their claims within 30 days," he said.

"We are trying to bring the claims down to 30 days but we know there are clients still going to doctors who are still paying up front. We want to know why and how long their claim process is, and are investigating to ensure that patients are getting the service without having to pay up front, also improving the service so patients do not have to wait so long for their reply."

Commenting on Government's Future Care programme, Mr. Bascome said: "With the Future Care model, people will be able to choose a physician they want to. Some of the features are: access to comprehensive healthcare, equity, freedom to choose, and flexibility.

"I feel that the Future Care model is one that Bermuda will be proud of. It's been a long time coming and I know seniors will be able to benefit from this service, which for so long they have had problems accessing."

Mr. Bascome added: "With the Urgent Care Centres we can provide for some of the patients in the East End of the Island and then in the West End, and so take some of the pressure off our emergency services."