By Our Reporter
The Lagos State Ministry of Health has concluded its investigation into a patient experience incident involving a 21-year-old woman, Alimat Oshodi, at Randle General Hospital, dismissing the impression that the facility delayed access to care or attempted to extort money from the patient.
The incident was reported on social media on August 31, 2026, by the patient’s mother, Mrs Oshodi. According to the Ministry’s investigation, Alimat presented at the hospital’s Mother and Child Centre on August 4 as an emergency case requiring immediate medical intervention. She received lifesaving emergency obstetric and newborn care under the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care (CEmONC) programme at no cost and was discharged on August 11. The initial value of the emergency treatment was ₦75,950.
The Ministry said the patient returned to the hospital on August 27 for follow-up care and investigations. Due to her financial constraints, the hospital’s Social Welfare Unit provided ₦5,000 on August 28 and another ₦13,000 on August 31st, totalling ₦18,000, to support subsequent investigations. The patient also contributed ₦10,000 towards her care, bringing the total value of government assistance provided to ₦93,950
The Ministry explained that the controversy over a POS transaction arose after the patient requested a refund of the ₦13,000 already paid on her behalf through the Hospital Welfare Fund, after an NGO offered to cover the cost. She was reportedly informed that payments made through Social Welfare could not be refunded at the Paypoint in accordance with established procedures.
According to the Ministry, the case demonstrated the application of Lagos State’s social health protection mechanisms to ensure that financial constraints did not prevent vulnerable residents from accessing necessary healthcare.
These mechanisms include Ilera Eko, the State’s social health insurance programme; hospital-based Social Welfare support for patients unable to afford emergency care; and the CEmONC programme, which provides emergency obstetric and newborn care for eligible vulnerable patients through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
The Ministry also disclosed that it was improving payment processes across public hospitals through the rollout of the Smart Health Information Platform (SHIP) and conducting regular audits of fee collection practices.
The Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, said the investigation had established the facts surrounding the incident and demonstrated that the State’s social health protection mechanisms provided timely support to the patient, including emergency care worth ₦93,950 at no cost.
He said the findings contradicted the impression created by the social media report that a Lagos State government hospital had attempted to delay care or extort money from a vulnerable patient.
