Hospital patient priority review needs a ‘reality check’, says doctors’ union leader David Pope

The doctor whose bombshell claims sparked a review into patient priority in hospitals claims its findings are a political whitewash and the reviewers need a “reality check”.

A doctors’ union leader has blasted the findings of an inquiry into whether some less urgent patients get priority treatment over sicker patients, following claims it was happening in a bid to fix the state’s ramping crisis, as a political whitewash.

SA Salaried Medical Officers Association president David Pope says the terms of reference set by the government meant it was “never going to uncover what is truly going on”.

He also accused the inquiry of not doing “reality checks”, claiming the information they examined did not reflect what was really going on in EDs.

His savaging of the report comes after one of the reviewers, Dr Bill Griggs, clarified that he spoke to more than “15-to-20” people, which he had told a media conference.

Claims by SA Salaried Medical Officers Association president Dr David Pope sparked the review into patient priority. Picture: Sarah Reed

Highly regarded doctor Bill Griggs, pictured in 2012, was one of the reviewers.

He said he spoke to about 20 ED consultants but also to nurses, paramedics and administrators while investigating claims patients were leapfrogging more serious cases, leading to deaths.

The inquiry was sparked by comments by Dr Pope, in The Advertiser, that ED clinicians were being “intimidated” into giving ramped ambulance patients priority over sicker patients in waiting rooms.

Dr Pope claimed it was leading to deaths.

The review was expanded when the Ambulance Employees Association claimed the tragic death of 54-year-old disabled man Eddie, who waited 10 hours for an ambulance at Hectorville, was due to ramping caused by waiting room patients being given priority over ambulance arrivals.

Ambulance ramping at the Royal Adelaide Hospital is a common occurrence. Picture: Facebook/Ambulance Employees Association

And at Flinders Medical Centre.

The review by Dr Griggs and Commissioner for Excellence in Health Professor Keith McNeil found no evidence to back either claim. It also found no evidence of any deaths linked to less urgent cases being given priority over other patients.

The government welcomed the findings and pledged to implement its five recommendations, while the Opposition blasted it as a “joke” which effectively says “nothing to see here”.

Dr Pope, speaking on FIVEaa on Friday, agreed with the suggestion the review was a political “whitewash”.

He said it was clear from the terms of reference the intent was to find no problems, which was “disappointing”.

“The way the evidence was gathered was never going to uncover what is truly going on,” he said.

“There wasn’t enough scope, there was not enough proper analysis of the data, the data that was looked at was not reflective of reality.

“And there were no reality checks done by the reviewers to see whether the data they were looking at reflected what was truly going on.”

Dr Pope doubled down on his claim of “the intimidation, the phone calls, the pressure to do certain things which was against the interest of the patient”.

“If you take the review on face value it would say that everything is fine and there’s no problems whatsoever, which is clearly not the case,” he said.

Dr Pope welcomed the review’s recommendations, which aim to improve patient care and reduce risks during times of high demand.

Reviewer Prof McNeil raised the prospect of “machine learning” to reduce risks and improve efficiency as the health system balances people who arrive at EDs by their own means, ambulance arrivals, and calls for ambulances at times of significant ramping.