RESIDENT DOCTORS REJECT SENATE BILL PROPOSING JAIL TERM FOR DELAYED EMERGENCY TREATMENT

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has rejected a proposed amendment to the National Health Act seeking to impose a six-month jail term or a fine of up to N300,000 on healthcare professionals and facilities over delays in emergency medical treatment.

The association described the proposed legislation, which has reportedly passed second reading in the Senate, as punitive, arguing that it seeks to criminalise doctors for failures arising from a healthcare system successive governments have failed to adequately fund, equip and staff.

In a statement made available to journalists on Friday in Calabar, NARD said it recognised the importance of prompt emergency care but would not support legislation that punishes healthcare workers without addressing the underlying challenges in the health sector.

The statement was signed by the association’s President, Dr Ogar Idoko; Secretary-General, Dr Besongngem Akotanchi; and Publicity and Social Secretary, Dr Ashimom Timothy.

“The attention of the leadership of NARD has been drawn to reports of a proposed amendment to the National Health Act seeking to impose a six-month jail term or a fine of up to N300,000.00 on healthcare professionals and facilities over delays in emergency medical treatment.

“The proposed legislation, which has reportedly passed second reading in the Senate, seeks to introduce mandatory timelines for emergency care treatment and referral.

“While NARD recognises the importance of prompt emergency care and the need to protect patients from avoidable harm, we unequivocally reject any legislative approach that criminalises healthcare professionals without adequately addressing the systemic failures that undermine emergency medical services in Nigeria,” the statement read.

NARD said doctors across the country work under extremely difficult conditions, struggling to save lives in hospitals plagued by obsolete equipment, inadequate staffing, unreliable electricity, insufficient emergency supplies and deteriorating infrastructure.

“It is unacceptable to punish doctors for the consequences of a healthcare system that successive governments have failed to adequately fund, equip and staff,” it added.

The association maintained that the challenges confronting healthcare professionals were not necessarily products of professional negligence but consequences of longstanding institutional neglect.

It also expressed concern that lawmakers were prioritising punitive legislation against frontline healthcare workers while Nigeria continued to fall short of the 15 per cent health budget allocation commitment under the Abuja Declaration.

“We challenge the National Assembly to demonstrate the same legislative urgency in ensuring adequate healthcare funding, functional emergency departments, modern diagnostic equipment, uninterrupted electricity, reliable ambulance services and sufficient healthcare personnel,” NARD said.

“You cannot legislate oxygen into an empty cylinder, electricity into a dark operating theatre, or life-saving equipment into an inadequately funded hospital,” it added.

NARD urged lawmakers to subject themselves to the same standards of accountability they seek to impose on healthcare professionals.

It argued that if legislators considered imprisonment an appropriate response to failures in the healthcare system, they should first consider legislation compelling public officeholders to seek medical treatment in Nigerian government hospitals, with appropriate sanctions for the misuse of public resources on avoidable overseas medical trips.

The association warned that additional criminal penalties against already overstretched healthcare professionals could worsen the country’s ongoing brain drain, popularly known as the japa syndrome.

It said that as Nigeria struggled to retain its skilled medical workforce, creating an increasingly hostile and punitive working environment could drive more doctors and nurses out of the country.

Although NARD acknowledged that the proposed bill contains provisions recognising resource limitations and circumstances beyond the control of healthcare practitioners, it insisted that such safeguards must be explicit, comprehensive and enforceable.

According to the association, doctors must not be criminally punished for institutional failures, unavailable equipment, inadequate staffing or circumstances beyond their reasonable control.

The PUNCH Online had earlier reported that the Senate was considering a bill proposing a six-month jail term or a fine of up to N300,000 for hospitals and healthcare providers that violate proposed emergency treatment standards.

The bill seeks to compel hospitals to assess emergency patients within 15 minutes of arrival, begin stabilisation within 30 minutes and complete referrals within three hours where necessary.

Sponsored by Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, the proposed legislation seeks to amend the National Health Act, 2014.