The Senate has passed for second reading, a bill that would compel public and private hospitals across Nigeria to give emergency medical treatment. 

It prescribes up to six months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to N300,000, or both, for anyone convicted of denying a patient emergency care. Facilities and individuals found in breach could be penalised.

The bill is sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua, who represents Katsina Central. It seeks to amend the National Health Act, 2014, to set mandatory emergency treatment standards and referral protocols in healthcare facilities.

Titled SB. 759, it has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), which has been directed to report back in four weeks.

Under the proposal, no healthcare provider, health worker or medical establishment may deny anyone emergency treatment for any reason. Health professionals would be required to begin life-saving interventions, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, airway management and bleeding control, as soon as a life-threatening condition is identified.

Hospitals would have to carry out triage and initial assessment within 15 minutes of a patient’s arrival. Basic stabilisation, including oxygen, intravenous fluids, pain management and initial diagnostics, would have to start within 30 minutes. Patients needing admission would be assigned a bed within two hours, subject to availability.

Where no bed is available, the hospital must begin stabilisation immediately and arrange a transfer. Referral arrangements would have to start within two hours, and the transfer be completed within three hours of arrival, unless circumstances beyond the hospital’s control prevent it.

An ambulance or other transport would have to be provided within 30 minutes of the referral decision. The bill also introduces mandatory emergency care training and certification for health workers, with recertification at intervals not exceeding 18 months, and directs the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria to jointly develop a national emergency care curriculum. Practitioners would be shielded from penalties where resource constraints prevent compliance, provided the challenges are properly documented and the prescribed referral procedures are followed.

Leading the debate, Yar’Adua said preventable deaths persist because many facilities lack clear, enforceable timelines for assessment, stabilisation and treatment. He pointed to Nigeria’s share of roughly 10 per cent of global maternal deaths, which he partly blamed on delays in emergency obstetric care.

He said the amendment would guarantee timely care regardless of a patient’s status, wealth, influence or location, and added that it is in line with practice in Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Senate Whip Mohammed Monguno backed the bill, saying it would address deaths from road accidents and maternal emergencies and bring criminal liability for negligence by providers. Senator Diket Plang said it would improve emergency admissions and referral procedures, especially for rural communities where childbirth complications often require urgent transfers from primary health centres.

Minority Leader Abba Moro said the committee stage and public hearing would let health professionals and other stakeholders contribute. He also condemned hospitals that demand police reports before treating emergency patients.

Not every senator was fully on board. Francis Faduyile, representing Ondo South, warned against criminalising health workers without first fixing inadequate facilities, staff shortages and funding gaps. He said many hospitals lack enough doctors, oxygen cylinders and emergency equipment, and asked how a doctor attending to several patients could be held criminally liable when another emergency arrives.

He also noted that private providers often treat emergency patients without reimbursement, and argued for a broader review of the National Health Act. Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the debate had raised important challenges. He urged colleagues to support the bill’s progress and stressed that the federal, state and local governments must work together to provide the facilities and resources for effective healthcare delivery.