Emergency patients: Fix hospitals before punishing health workers – NMA tells NASS
Benin City, Nigeria — Prof. Afekhide Ernest Omoti, president of the National Medical Association (NMA), criticized proposed sanctions on healthcare professionals, calling them unjust. In a statement to journalists in Benin City on Thursday, Omoti urged the National Assembly to hold government authorities accountable for their failure to provide necessary resources and infrastructure for effective emergency medical services.
Omoti emphasized the need for lawmakers to address systemic challenges within the healthcare sector rather than impose punitive measures on health professionals. He noted that the National Health Act (NHA) already establishes a legal framework for protecting patients in need of emergency treatment, stating that existing provisions prohibit the denial of care in such situations.
“It is fundamentally unfair to impose criminal liability on healthcare workers and hospitals for failing to provide services when governments have not fulfilled their responsibility,” Omoti said. He underscored that the critical issue is not the lack of legislation, but rather the failure to implement existing laws and create a supportive environment for their execution.
Particularly, he pointed to Section 6 of the NHA, which creates the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to facilitate funding for emergency medical treatment. Omoti lamented that inadequate implementation of the BHCPF forces hospitals to absorb substantial financial burdens without proper reimbursements.
“This creates an unsustainable situation in which hospitals are expected to provide emergency care without necessary financial support,” he added.
Omoti also identified a severe shortage of doctors and healthcare professionals as a major challenge affecting the healthcare system. He attributed this situation to poor salaries, unfavorable working conditions, lack of infrastructure, insecurity, excessive workloads, and a generally unsupportive professional environment. These factors have contributed to a significant migration of Nigerian doctors and nurses seeking better opportunities abroad.
“Our hospitals are operating with dangerously inadequate manpower,” Omoti stated. He explained that in many facilities, the limited number of available doctors is overwhelmed by high patient loads, often under difficult conditions and without sufficient backing.
Furthermore, the NMA president expressed concern over the state of infrastructure and the persistent shortage of essential medical supplies in hospitals. He listed critical needs for emergency care, including oxygen, essential medications, resuscitation equipment, and functional ambulances, which are often unavailable in many healthcare institutions.
“How can we expect a doctor to provide emergency care when the hospital lacks the basic equipment and supplies necessary to save lives?” Omoti questioned. He argued that threatening healthcare workers with imprisonment for circumstances largely beyond their control is unreasonable.
He urged the National Assembly to focus on addressing the fundamental deficiencies in the healthcare system rather than enacting punitive measures that could further demoralize an already strained workforce. Additionally, he called on the Senate to reconsider the proposed amendments in their current form and redirect legislative efforts toward alleviating the challenges that undermine emergency healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
