‘No evidence’ of doctor’s ambulance ramping claims, review finds

The overview, handed down by Dr Invoice Griggs and Dr Keith McNeil in the present day, as a substitute discovered there’s a “development” for ready room sufferers to be seen earlier than ambulance arrivals – however mentioned the explanation for this could’t be ascertained right now.

The state authorities commissioned Griggs and McNeil on December 7 to look into claims made by Dr David Pope that emergency division clinicians had been being “intimidated to off load ambulance (sufferers) when there are sicker and extra pressing pts within the ready room”.

Pope, an emergency drugs specialist on the Lyell McEwin Hospital and president of the medical doctors’ union, claimed the state of affairs had led to 2 affected person deaths in ready rooms.

However the overview launched in the present day rejected these claims, discovering: “No proof was discovered to assist Dr Pope’s contentions that sufferers had died (nor might we discover any proof of overt hurt occurring to any affected person) because of any directions given by hospital directors to dump ambulance sufferers as a precedence over ready room sufferers of identified better (and even of comparable) medical want.”

“Moreover… there isn’t a proof that sufferers conveyed to hospital by ambulance are given remedy precedence over these within the ED ready room.”

The overview additionally didn’t discover proof of counterclaims made by the paramedics’ union that ready room sufferers are being prioritised over ambulance arrivals.

The Ambulance Staff Affiliation final week highlighted the case of 54-year-old Hectorville man Eddie – who waited greater than 10 hours for an ambulance – as proof of their claims.

The Griggs and McNeil overview discovered: “The case of a affected person loss of life cited by the AEA couldn’t be definitively linked to the clinically inappropriate prioritisation of ready room sufferers over ambulance sufferers.”

“Though over the previous 12 months, information… exhibits that there’s a development for non-ambulance arrivals at EDs to been seen extra shortly that these conveyed by ambulance.”

Griggs and McNeil’s overview assessed emergency division information from South Australia’s main hospitals and interviewed dozens of clinicians working in emergency departments. It additionally consulted with the medical doctors’ and paramedics’ unions.

The overview acknowledged a “real degree of stress and concern” being expressed by clinicians within the hospital and ambulance service.

The state authorities has accepted all 5 suggestions from the overview, together with strengthening the SA Well being’s ambulance transport coverage to “explicitly state that the prioritisation of the care of any affected person is a medical accountability, and that the senior medical resolution maker on shift has the accountability and accountability for such choices”.

The reviewers additionally really useful a overview of SA Well being’s organisation-wide approaches to “security tradition” with a view to “reducing danger inherent in a historically hierarchical system”.

McNeil additionally instructed reporters in the present day that it might take an additional three months to find out why the information suggests ready room sufferers are being seen sooner than ambulance arrivals.

“There’s a development for non-ambulance arrivals at EDs to been seen extra shortly than these conveyed by ambulance,” the overview discovered.

“It will nonetheless be wholly inappropriate and incorrect right now, to attract the definitive conclusion from this information, that such a development is the results of a scientific/deliberate bias in direction of non-ambulance arrivals.

“There are various explanation why such a development could also be occurring, and a way more in-depth and granular evaluation is required to achieve a definitive conclusion as to what’s occurring right here, and why.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas mentioned the state authorities welcomed the suggestions, saying they had been “optimistic”.

“We are going to implement not simply the findings but in addition the suggestions that they’ve made – we expect they’re optimistic,”

“For sure, we… additionally learn the report with a level of reduction that however the substantial quantity of stress that exists inside the system, that there are protocols in place to ensure that as finest as attainable persons are seen given the pressures the system is usually talking underneath,” the Premier mentioned.

Pope mentioned he stood by his claims made in December, arguing there have been flaws within the report’s phrases of reference and proof gathering.

However he additionally welcomed the report’s suggestions, saying they might result in optimistic change within the well being system.

The Ambulance Staff Affiliation additionally welcomed the report’s suggestions, saying they might guarantee decision-making within the well being system happens “holistically and is knowledgeable by consideration of the medical danger going through all neighborhood members accessing medical care in our state”.

Each the paramedics and the medical doctors union can be a part of a medical working group to supervise implementation of the report’s suggestions.

Supported by the Authorities of South Australia