For years, Nigerians have watched with deep disquiet and equally expressed their disgust at how hospitals and medical facilities handle people who need emergency care, with the unyielding and dogmatic adherence of some medical professionals to certain ludicrous regulations leading to the death of some people who could have been saved. But an ongoing amendment to the National Health Act 2014 is about to end this unsettling practice by those who swore the Hippocratic oath to save lives.
Last week, a bill that will empower authorities to suspend or permanently revoke the operating licenses of hospitals and clinics that refuse to treat emergency patients passed second reading at the House of Representatives. The bill was sponsored by Akin Rotimi, the House spokesperson.
For many Nigerians, this is a long overdue and life-saving intervention aimed at ending the despicable practice of medical facilities refusing gravely ill and dying patients attention for utterly ridiculous reasons such as demands for upfront payments, police reports, red tape, or claims of no bed space.
Putting the pieces together
The existing law, Section 20 of the National Health Act 2014, already frowns on refusing emergency patients medical care. The punitive measures in place to stop this from happening are not effective enough, as they do not provide the legal protection needed by Nigerians.
A fine of N100,000 or a maximum of six months in prison has done little to force a change of behaviour from many medical personnel. Reports of preventable deaths caused by treatment refusal, delays and poorly coordinated referrals remain a recurring reality.
The bill seeks to introduce stricter and stronger measures to end these unsettling practices
Under the proposed law, hospitals must begin assessing a patient (triage) within 15 minutes of arrival and provide basic life-saving stabilisation within 30 minutes. If the hospital has an available bed, it must be assigned to the patient within two hours. If no bed is available, the medical team is legally required to stabilise the patient first before arranging a transfer to another centre within two hours of their arrival.
Tougher sanctions and Punitive measures
The significance and timeliness of this bill cannot be overemphasised. What makes this new bill exceedingly crucial is its focus on severe, business-killing ramifications. Instead of a slap-on-the-wrist kind of punishment, which is currently the case, healthcare facilities that delay, hinder, or deny emergency care will face crushing financial penalties, immediate license suspension, or permanent closure.
The piece of legislation also seeks to directly crack down on overbearing and insensitive medical personnel. Individual health workers who deliberately abandon emergency patients will face criminal charges and professional disciplinary action from their regulatory bodies.
Furthermore, the bill also paves a legal pathway for victims to seek redress; patients or families who suffer disability or death due to a hospital’s brazen neglect and refusal to treat can demand compensation through civil lawsuits.
Prioritising lives
For too long, Nigerians on the throes of death have seen their chances of survival left at the mercy of mostly indifferent medical officers who have become law unto themselves. Survival has to be negotiated at the doors of emergency rooms. This bill eliminates dangerous grey areas by legally defining terms like “emergency patient,” “stabilisation,” and “referral” so that no hospital can use legal loopholes to escape responsibility.
If this bill is passed into law and strictly enforced, it will completely change the private and public health framework, particularly in the area of emergency medical care, for good. It will ensure that the right to emergency healthcare is no longer something shaped by the whim and impulse of certain individuals. It will ensure that emergency care is no longer just a pledge on paper, but a reality in every clinic and hospital across the country, backed by concrete judicial and legislative instruments.
