Patients’ Bill of Rights in Nigeria: Your 12 Rights Explained, and What Nurses Must Do

Updated October 2026.

Every patient in Nigeria, in a teaching hospital, a private clinic or a primary health centre, has rights. In July 2018, the Federal Government launched the Patients’ Bill of Rights (PBoR), championed by the Federal Ministry of Health and the consumer protection agency now known as the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). It sets out 12 rights that patients can expect from anyone who provides their care.

The 12 rights, in plain language

1. Information you can understand. Your diagnosis, treatment options, procedures and likely outcomes should be explained in a language and way you understand.
2. Access to your records. You can get timely access to accurate details of your medical records and the services available.
3. Clear billing. You should know what things cost, including the cost of a recommended treatment plan, before you’re charged.
4. Privacy and confidentiality. Your health information belongs to you and must be protected.
5. A clean, safe environment. Facilities should be hygienic, safe and secure.
6. Respect for everyone. No one should be treated differently because of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, disability, income or an allegation of crime.
7. Emergency care. In an emergency, you are entitled to urgent, immediate and adequate care.
8. Reasonable visits. Family and friends may visit, in line with the facility’s rules.
9. The right to say no. You may decline treatment, within the law, once the consequences have been fully explained to you.
10. Choice about research. You can agree or refuse to take part in research, experimental procedures or clinical trials.
11. Quality care. Care should meet accepted professional standards.
12. The right to complain. You can raise concerns or express dissatisfaction about the care you received.

What this means for nurses

Nurses spend more time with patients than any other health worker, so they are often the ones who make these rights real, or let them slip. In practice:

• Explain before you act. Tell patients what you’re about to do and why, and check that they understand. Use an interpreter or family member where needed.
• Get real consent. Consent should be informed and freely given, and patients can change their minds.
• Protect privacy. Don’t discuss patients in corridors or share their details or photos, including on WhatsApp or social media.
• Never delay emergency care while money or paperwork is sorted out.
• Treat every patient with the same respect, whoever they are.
• Act as the patient’s advocate when their rights are at risk. It’s part of a nurse’s professional duty.

How to complain

1. Start with the facility. Ask for the patient relations or customer service desk, or the head of the unit, and put your complaint in writing.
2. Keep records: dates, names, receipts and any documents.
3. Escalate if needed. You can take consumer complaints to the FCCPC through its official channels. Concerns about a nurse’s or midwife’s professional conduct can go to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, and concerns about a doctor to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

The FCCPC has used its consumer protection powers in health cases before. In 2019 it reported that four doctors had been sanctioned for violating patients’ rights.

Rights come with responsibilities

Good care is a partnership. Patients help by giving honest and complete information about their health, following agreed treatment plans or saying when they can’t, respecting staff and other patients, and following the facility’s rules.

Read also: NMCN guide for nurses · Ethics in nursing

Sources: Nigeria Health Watch; Vanguard; Channel Network Afrique. This article is general information, not legal advice.