Hospitals in Nigeria could face financial penalties, suspension of operating licences or closure for refusing or delaying emergency medical treatment under a proposed amendment to the National Health Act, 2014.
The bill, sponsored by Akin Rotimi, passed its second reading in the House of Representatives on November 4, 2026, and seeks to strengthen accountability for healthcare facilities that fail to provide timely emergency care.
According to a report by Premium Times, the proposed amendment responds to concerns that patients continue to suffer preventable complications and deaths because of administrative delays, demands for payment before treatment, unavailable hospital beds and poorly coordinated referrals.
Under the proposal, hospitals would be required to begin triage within 15 minutes of a patient’s arrival and commence basic stabilisation within 30 minutes. Life-saving interventions must begin immediately once a life-threatening condition is identified.
Facilities would also be expected to assign available beds to patients requiring admission within two hours. Where a hospital lacks the capacity to admit a patient, it must begin stabilisation and arrange a referral.
Strengthening emergency care accountability
The proposed amendment also provides for criminal sanctions and professional disciplinary action against healthcare workers who deliberately refuse to attend to emergency patients or abandon them.
Patients or their representatives could also seek compensation where a violation of the proposed provisions results in injury, disability or death.
However, the bill recognises that some facilities face genuine resource limitations. It therefore provides safeguards for healthcare workers who act in good faith, document these limitations and follow established referral procedures.
Nigeria’s National Health Act already prohibits healthcare providers and facilities from refusing emergency medical treatment. The proposed amendment seeks to strengthen that obligation with clearer timelines and enforceable consequences.
Following its second reading, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Health Services for further legislative consideration.
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