The Nigerian House of Representatives has passed a bill seeking to amend the National Health Act of 2014 to improve emergency medical care. The bill aims to eliminate operational delays and establish mandatory triage, stabilization, and referral protocols across all healthcare institutions in the country. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Akin Rotimi, emphasized that access to immediate medical care is a fundamental right that must not be subject to financial or bureaucratic hurdles.
Rep. Rotimi noted that Nigerians continue to lose their lives or suffer preventable complications due to delays arising from administrative bottlenecks, demands for payment before treatment, unavailable hospital beds, and poorly coordinated referrals. He stressed the urgent need for a binding statutory framework that guarantees rapid emergency interventions through clear response timelines, periodic mandatory professional training, and enforceable institutional penalties.
The proposed legislation outlines five cardinal interventions. Firstly, it reinforces the absolute prohibition against denying emergency care under any circumstances. Secondly, it mandates compulsory continuous emergency care training and re-certification for healthcare professionals at intervals not exceeding 18 months. The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria will jointly formulate a uniform national emergency curriculum.
The bill introduces strict operational timelines for medical facilities. Facilities must commence clinical triage within 15 minutes of an emergency patient's arrival, initiate basic stabilization within 30 minutes, and deploy life-saving resuscitation immediately once life-threatening indicators are identified. Certified emergency nurses are authorized to conduct immediate triage where physicians are unavailable.
The bill streamlines admission and inter-hospital transfers. Where bed space exists, a bed must be allocated to the emergency patient within two hours. If at full capacity, the facility must begin medical stabilization, trigger formal referral procedures within two hours of arrival, arrange transit logistics within 30 minutes of the transfer decision, and complete patient transfer within three hours, barring force majeure.
The amendment balances professional safeguards with institutional accountability. Medical personnel acting in good faith, maintaining proper records of facility constraints, and following statutory referral steps are shielded from legal liabilities. Conversely, health facilities that refuse, delay, or obstruct emergency treatment risk heavy financial penalties, license suspensions, and permanent closure.
The bill creates a statutory civil remedy allowing victims or their surviving families to claim compensation from defaulting hospitals where wrongful denial or delay leads to injury, physical impairment, or death. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Healthcare Services for further legislative work after widespread bipartisan support during plenary.
Key points
- The bill aims to eliminate operational delays in emergency medical care and establish mandatory triage protocols across all healthcare institutions in Nigeria.
- The proposed legislation introduces strict operational timelines for medical facilities, including commencing clinical triage within 15 minutes of an emergency patient's arrival.
- The amendment balances professional safeguards with institutional accountability, shielding medical personnel from legal liabilities while imposing penalties on health facilities that refuse, delay, or obstruct emergency treatment.
