Reps considers bill that will suspend licence of hospitals denying patients emergency treatment

A bill that would allow regulators to suspend or revoke the operating licences of healthcare facilities that refuse or obstruct emergency treatment has passed its second reading in Nigeria’s House of Representatives. The bill, sponsored by House spokesperson Akin Rotimi, seeks to amend the National Health Act 2014 by setting mandatory timelines for assessing, stabilising and referring emergency patients.

Section 20 of the existing Act prohibits healthcare providers, health workers and facilities from refusing emergency medical treatment for any reason. It provides for a fine of ₦100,000, up to six months in prison, or both. Despite the ban, some facilities have reportedly turned away emergency patients and directed them to other centres.

Leading the debate during Wednesday’s plenary, Rotimi said delays, administrative hurdles, demands for upfront payment and poorly coordinated referrals continued to cause avoidable complications and cost lives. He said the amendment would clarify who is responsible for providing care and how quickly they must act. Under the bill, facilities would have to begin triage within 15 minutes of a patient’s arrival and provide basic stabilisation within 30 minutes. If staff identify a life-threatening condition, they would have to begin lifesaving treatment immediately.

Hospitals with an available bed would have to assign it to an emergency patient within two hours. If no bed is available, the facility would have to begin stabilising the patient and initiate a referral within two hours of arrival or immediately after clinical stabilisation. “Conversely, healthcare establishments that refuse, delay or obstruct emergency treatment face financial penalties, licence suspension and possible closure or withdrawal of licence for subsequent offences,” Rotimi said.

Health workers who wilfully refuse to treat or abandon emergency patients could face criminal penalties and professional disciplinary proceedings. The bill would also allow compensation to be sought through civil action against a facility if a breach of the emergency treatment provisions results in injury, disability or death. It defines emergency patient, stabilisation, referral and triage to help facilities apply the rules consistently.

“No family should lose a loved one because treatment was unnecessarily delayed, a referral was poorly coordinated, or a healthcare facility failed to discharge its responsibility,” Rotimi said. He said the aim was to make the right to emergency treatment enforceable in practice by giving facilities clear duties from the moment a patient arrives.