"This is a very serious problem and it needs to be dealt with immediately," said Butler. "This letter confirms my previous claims that serious problems still exist and adequate resources have not yet been assigned to deal with the situation. I hope this serves notice to the Minister that she has to wake up and change direction so her department deals with these serious issues.

"If one person does not get the medical attention they need because of the cut-backs, fiscal restraints or the general administrative problems this government has created it is a serious matter. Even worse in this situation, it is my understanding that this is happening quite often. This letter confirms that even children who need immediate care are having problems and this is simply not good enough."

The letter written to the Director of Income Support was written on behalf of the social workers at the Janeway Child Health Centre, "to express our concern regarding the difficulties we have encountered over the last several months in obtaining services for our patients and their families."

The Letter went on to say, "Clients are becoming more and more stressed and frustrated because of their inability to access their client services officer, which has resulted in delays in provision of needed services. Health Care social workers are experiencing these same problems and although a number of verbal complaints have been made there has been no improvement in service delivery."

The Letter outlines specific problems and said, "There has been considerable delays in getting services approved, which has on a number of occasions have impacted the delivery of health care to our patients." It was also noted that "These delays are having a tremendous impact on the physical and emotional well being of our patients."

The letter also pointed out that problems are in some cases being increased rather than diminished because of the administrative changes being made in the Department. "The changes recently made with the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment do not appear to be in the best interests of those in receipt of social assistance. Clients are having more and more difficulty in navigating the system and often times do not have anyone to advocate for them. We must remember that these are some of the most vulnerable citizens in our society."

The Liberal MHA has spoke out publically several times in the past on this issue and asked questions on it during the last session of the House of Assembly. "The Minister has been trying to say no problems exist and she has been giving the impression that adequate resources are being allocated to deal with these problem. This letter is further evidence that there are serious problems here that still need to be addressed."

Butler also commended the social workers at the Janeway for coming forward with the complaints they have made. "These are professional people who see the impact of government policy every day and they have to be taken seriously. I encourage other groups in the community to come forward as well."

The Liberal MHA says the stand taken by the social workers is very courageous given the reign of terror which Premier Williams is attempting to impose on the civil service and groups that depend on government funding.