The Lagos State Ministry of Health has concluded its investigation into a patient experience incident reported on social media on 31 August 2026 by Mrs. Oshodi, involving her daughter who was seeking care at Randle General Hospital.

The investigation established that the patient, Alimat Oshodi, is indeed 21 years old and not 13 as indicated by her mother, presented at the Hospital’s Mother and Child Centre on 4 August 2026 as an emergency case requiring immediate medical intervention. She received lifesaving emergency care under the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care (CEmONC) program at no cost to her family and was discharged on 11 August 2026. The initial value of the emergency care provided was ₦75,950 free of charge.

Following her discharge, the patient returned to the Hospital on 27 August 2026 for follow-up care and investigations. In response to her ongoing financial constraints, the Hospital’s Social Welfare Unit provided ₦5,000 on 28 August and an additional ₦13,000 on 31 August, totaling ₦18,000, towards subsequent investigations. The patient contributed ₦10,000 towards the subsequent care, while the total value of government assistance provided to date was ₦93,950.

The subsequent discussion concerning a POS transaction arose after the patient sought a refund of the ₦13,000 already paid on her behalf by the Hospital Welfare Fund, stating that an NGO was now willing to cover the cost. She was informed that Social Welfare payments could not be refunded at the Paypoint in accordance with established procedure.

The Ministry has also established that Lagos State’s social health protection mechanisms were applied in this case to ensure that financial constraints did not prevent access to necessary life-saving care. These social health protection mechanisms include Ilera Eko, the State’s social health insurance program which is provided free to indigent patients on the equity fund and to the rest of the public at subsidized rates; hospital-based Social Welfare support which are funds set apart by each General Hospital to cater for patients who require emergency care and are unable to afford it at the time; and the CEmONC program, which provides emergency obstetric and newborn care for eligible vulnerable patients courtesy of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

The Ministry is constantly improving efficient payment processes in all our public hospitals through the roll out of the Smart Health Information Platform (SHIP) and conducting regular audits of fee collection practices across public health facilities.

This investigation has established the facts surrounding the incident and confirms that the State’s social health protection mechanisms work seamlessly and, in this case, provide timely support at no cost to the patient when she required emergency care to the tune of ₦93,950. This is contrary to the message implied in the social media post, that a Lagos State Ministry of Health Government General Hospital was trying to delay access to care and extort funds from a vulnerable patient.

Signed

Akin Abayomi
Honourable Commissioner for Health, Lagos State