A woman has taken to social media to accuse the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) in Rivers State of negligence after her sister reportedly died at the hospital. In a viral video, she said her sister was left without a doctor’s attention in the emergency ward. The video begins with the words “UPTH, thank you for the negligence.”
These are allegations from a grieving relative, and the hospital has not been heard. We found no statement from UPTH, and we do not know the sister’s name, her age or what illness she had. The cause of death has not been confirmed.
What the woman says happened (the allegations)
According to the woman, she and her sister arrived at the emergency ward on Thursday, but no doctor attended to her sister in the days that followed. She said her sister was in pain, repeatedly said she was weak and needed a drip, and cried through the previous day.
She also claimed that when she approached some doctors, they said they were tired and needed rest. She added that her sister “never wanted to die.” We have left out the insults in her video, but her anger and grief were clear. Her account has not been checked against hospital records, so it is not known what care, if any, was given.
What it takes for a claim of negligence to stand (a question of facts)
Medical negligence means a patient was harmed because care fell below accepted standards. It is not the same as a patient dying. Some conditions are fatal even with good care. To decide whether negligence occurred, an investigation would look at when the patient arrived, how urgent the condition was, who saw her and what treatment was given. Hospitals use a process called triage, which sorts patients by how urgent their condition is, so that the most serious cases are seen first. Her claim is that no such attention was given.
A hospital that has faced this before (past cases and what followed)
UPTH has dealt with a similar accusation. A Source reported that the hospital dismissed two nurses who were on duty at the emergency unit when a University of Port Harcourt student, Kelechi Ndulagwu Precious, died on August 30 of that year. A panel set up by management recommended the dismissals after the nurses gave unsatisfactory answers to queries. The death caused unrest in Port Harcourt, with students blocking roads and damaging property. The report appears to date from around 2015, so please check the date before publishing.
Other teaching hospitals have also faced viral accusations. In September 2025, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu opened an investigation after a social media report claimed that a woman, Charity Unachukwu, was turned away due to lack of space and left unattended for about 12 hours. The hospital’s Chief Medical Director cancelled a foreign trip to oversee a forensic investigation. We found no report of the outcome.
In May 2026, the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital rejected viral claims of negligence after an infant’s death. It said the emergency team acted promptly and that it is unfair to reduce such cases to negligence without a professional investigation. These cases show three possible paths: a hospital that investigates and punishes, one that investigates, and one that defends its staff. The public will want to know which path UPTH takes.
Overcrowded wards and stretched staff (why emergency delays happen)
Public hospitals in Nigeria often receive more patients than they can handle. Emergency wards can be crowded, beds and equipment can be short, and the same few doctors may work long hours. Staff fatigue is real, but it cannot be an excuse for leaving a very sick patient unattended. If the woman’s account is true, the issue is as much about how the ward was run as about individual doctors.
Other factors may also play a part, such as waiting for test results, bills or the need for materials the family had to buy. We do not know whether any of these applied here.
Grief, anger and falling trust in public hospitals (effects)
For the family, the loss is made worse by the belief that it could have been avoided. Anger of this kind can lead to protests and attacks on health workers, as seen in Port Harcourt in the earlier case. That, in turn, endangers staff and other patients.
At the national level, cases like this make people fear going to public hospitals, so they delay treatment or turn to unsafe alternatives. Trust in the health system suffers, and it adds to pressure on doctors, who are already leaving the country in large numbers. Every unresolved case also adds to doubt that anyone will be held accountable.
Ways to prevent such tragedies and settle disputes (possible solutions)
UPTH should open an independent investigation, review the emergency records, interview the staff on duty and share its findings with the family. If it finds failings, it should say so and act, as it did before. If it finds that care was given, it should explain how, in plain terms.
Hospitals can also improve how they manage emergencies. A visible triage system and a patient relations desk would help families get answers while a patient is still alive. The family can also take the matter to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the regulator of doctors, and to the Federal Ministry of Health. Government should invest in more staff, equipment and working hours that do not push doctors to exhaustion.
A grieving family deserves answers (our view)
We express our condolences to the family. Whatever the final facts, a woman has lost her sister, and her anger deserves a serious response, not silence.
At the same time, fairness requires both sides to be heard. The doctors and nurses involved have not spoken. A death in a hospital is not proof of neglect, and a viral video is not a finding. What would help most is a transparent review by UPTH, with the results shared. If there was negligence, those responsible should face the consequences. If there was not, the hospital should show the evidence. In either case, patients who arrive at an emergency ward in pain should not have to wait days for a doctor.
Published by Ejoh Caleb
