The SA government has launched a clinical review into allegations Adelaide emergency department staff are being forced to prioritise patients in ambulances over those in waiting rooms because of ramping.

Royal Adelaide Hospital doctor and SA Salaried Medical Officers Association president, David Pope, said hospital managers have demanded staff unload ambulances when there are sicker people inside.

Health Minister Chris Picton said senior clinicians Bill Griggs and Keith McNeill will probe the “concerning” claims made by Mr Pope.

“I have asked for a review to be done of these allegations by two eminent clinical experts to make sure that we can get the full evidence and the full answers in regards to the allegations that have been made,” Mr Picton said.

Ramping – in which ambulances park at hospitals waiting for emergency beds to become available – hit a new record in South Australia yesterday.

Figures released show the equivalent of 178 days were lost to ramping in the month of November and that South Australia has experienced an almost five-fold increase in just over six years.

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