Doctors Push Back Against Proposed Jail Terms for Emergency Treatment Delays

• Doctors have urged lawmakers to review proposed emergency care penalties, warning that fines and jail terms could punish practitioners for shortages and delays beyond their control.

The Association of Nigeria Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP) has urged the National Assembly to reconsider proposed emergency care penalties, saying legislation must account for the conditions under which hospitals operate.

Its national president, Ernest Chukwuma, made the appeal on Friday while responding to the National Health Act Amendment Bill 2026.

Chukwuma maintained that doctors have a professional obligation to attend to emergency patients. However, he argued that practitioners should not bear sole responsibility for delays involving laboratories, pharmacies or other services.

He also distinguished medically necessary referrals from refusal of treatment, explaining that some patients require facilities with greater capacity.

The association called for financial support for unpaid emergency treatment, relief from multiple taxation and measures addressing personnel and equipment shortages.

Chukwuma said ANPMP would participate in legislative consultations and wanted a framework that protects patients while keeping healthcare facilities viable. Peoples Gazette/NAN

The bill, sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua of Katsina Central, passed second reading in the Senate on Wednesday, November 4.

It proposes assessing emergency patients within 15 minutes and beginning basic stabilisation within 30 minutes. Life-saving interventions would begin immediately when a life-threatening condition is identified.

Proposed sanctions include a ₦300,000 fine, imprisonment of up to six months, or both, for breaches of its emergency-treatment provisions.

During the Senate debate, Yar’Adua said the amendment would provide enforceable standards while protecting healthcare workers acting in good faith within documented resource limitations.

Senator Francis Faduyile also raised concerns about implementation, questioning how understaffed hospitals could meet prescribed timelines without adequate equipment and funding.

The proposal remains under legislative consideration. It has not become law, and committee scrutiny and stakeholder consultations provide opportunities to revise its provisions before further consideration.