Senate seeks jail term, ₦300k fine for hospitals rejecting emergencies

The Senate is considering a bill that proposes up to six months’ imprisonment, a ₦300,000 fine, or both, for hospitals that fail to provide emergency treatment, P.M. News reports.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, seeks to ensure timely emergency care, proper training of health workers and better patient referral procedures.

Under the proposal, public and private hospitals must assess emergency patients within 15 minutes of arrival and begin stabilisation within 30 minutes.

It also mandates immediate interventions such as CPR, airway management and bleeding control once a life-threatening condition is identified.

Where beds are unavailable, hospitals must stabilise patients and begin referral arrangements, with ambulance or alternative transport dispatched within 30 minutes.

Health workers would also undergo emergency care training and certification at least once every 18 months.

The bill aims to stop hospitals from rejecting emergency patients over inability to pay or lack of a police report, a practice blamed for several avoidable deaths across the country.