The Lagos State Government has denied allegations that a 21-year-old patient was denied timely treatment or subjected to extortion at Randle General Hospital….
The Lagos State Government has denied allegations that a 21-year-old patient was denied timely treatment or subjected to extortion at Randle General Hospital.
The denial followed a social media post by Mrs Oshodi on August 31, alleging that her daughter had faced difficulties accessing treatment at the hospital.
Concluding its investigation into the complaint, the Lagos State Ministry of Health said the patient, Alimat Oshodi, is 21, not 13 as stated in the social media post.
According to the ministry, Alimat first arrived at the hospital’s Mother and Child Centre on August 4 as an emergency case requiring immediate medical attention.
Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said she received life-saving treatment under the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care programme, at no cost to her family.
She was discharged on August 11, with the ministry putting the value of the emergency care provided at N75,950.
Alimat returned to the hospital on August 27 for follow-up treatment and further investigations.
The ministry said its Social Welfare Unit subsequently provided N5,000 on August 28 and another N13,000 on August 31 to support her care. The patient contributed N10,000, bringing the total government assistance to N93,950.
The dispute, however, centred on a N13,000 payment made through a point-of-sale terminal.
The ministry said Alimat had sought a refund of the N13,000 after an NGO offered to pay for the investigation. However, she was informed that payments made through the hospital’s Social Welfare support could not be refunded at the payment point under existing procedures.
Abayomi said the investigation found that government social health protection mechanisms were applied throughout the patient’s treatment to ensure that financial constraints did not prevent her from receiving necessary care.
These mechanisms include the Lagos State Social Health Insurance Programme, hospital-based Social Welfare support and the CEmONC programme.
The ministry said it was also taking steps to improve payment systems in public hospitals through the rollout of the Smart Health Information Platform and regular audits of fee collection practices.
It rejected the impression created by the social media post that the hospital deliberately delayed treatment or attempted to extort money from the patient.
The government reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that financial hardship does not prevent residents from accessing emergency healthcare in Lagos.
