‘Hospitals to provide immediate treatment’ – Lagos assembly passes accident victim bill

The Lagos house of assembly has passed a bill for security agencies and hospitals to provide immediate assistance to victims of accidents or crimes.

The bill, which had scaled first and second reading, was passed on Thursday when Mudashiru Obasa, the speaker of the house, and other members read it for the third time on the floor of the house.

The bill is aimed at ensuring that victims of accidents or crimes with gunshot wounds or serious injuries are helped by security agents and also receive immediate treatment from the nearest hospitals.

The bill said a private hospital that receives such victims shall report to a government agency in charge within 48 hours, adding that the hospital shall seek reimbursement in cases where the victims cannot afford the cost of treatment.

It further prescribed a fine for any medical facility that fails to comply with the related section of the bill.

“Every person, including security agents, shall render assistance to victims of accidents or crimes and ensure that such persons are taken to the nearest hospital for immediate care and treatment,” the bill reads in part.

“A public or private hospital shall provide immediate and adequate treatment to an accident victim or any person with gunshot and severe injuries or wounds.”

“A private hospital that receives accident victims with severe injuries or wounds for treatment under this section must inform the agency within Forty-Eight (48) hours of his admission, and forward a request for reimbursement of medical expenses where family members or relations cannot be identified or where the victim is indigent and subject to the approval of the request by the agency, it shall forward records of the treatment to the agency.”

The house also passed a bill to provide protection for witnesses in certain cases.

The bill seeks to protect witnesses in possession of important information and facing the potential risk of harm or intimidation due to their cooperation with the prosecution and other enforcement agencies.

Speaking after the bills have been passed, Obasa directed Olalekan Onafeko, the clerk of the house, to send a clean copy of the bill to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of the state.

TheCable had reported that Aliyu Giwa, a police officer in the force’s public relations office (FPRO), said it is mandatory for hospitals in Nigeria to treat victims of gunshot wounds before requesting a police report.

He had said the Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017 states that every hospital in Nigeria whether public or private shall treat with or without police clearance any person with gunshot wounds.

“The Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017 Section 1 – 15 say that: Every hospital in Nigeria whether public or private shall accept or receive for immediate and adequate treatment with or without police clearance any person with gunshot wounds,” he had said.