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The short answer
The fastest safe route is to get the hospital's own account details and an itemised bill from its billing office, confirm them by phone on a number you looked up, then send naira directly to that account and ask for an official receipt. In an emergency, Nigeria's National Health Act 2014 (section 20) says a person must not be refused emergency treatment "for any reason", so treatment should not wait for your transfer.
A call from Nigeria that a parent or sibling is in hospital and the bill must be paid today is one of the hardest moments for anyone living in Spain. Speed matters, but so does paying the right account: hospital emergencies are a known pretext for fraud. This guide sets out what to do in order.
First: emergency treatment should not wait for payment
Section 20(1) of the National Health Act 2014 provides that a health care provider or establishment "shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason", and section 20(2) makes refusal an offence, as Blueprint's 2023 explainer sets out. For gunshot wounds, the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act 2017, as summarised by LawPavilion, requires hospitals to treat with or without police clearance and with or without an initial deposit. If a hospital is refusing emergency care while it waits for money, your relative can cite the Act; you can still pay quickly, but the treatment should start.
Step 1: get the bill and the account from the hospital itself
- Ask your relative to go to the billing or accounts office, not a ward staff member, and request an itemised bill or deposit request on the hospital's letterhead.
- Ask for the hospital's own account details. The account name should be the hospital's registered name.
- Look up the hospital's main phone number yourself and call to confirm the account number and the amount.
- If anyone asks you to pay into a personal account "to speed things up", stop and confirm with the billing office.
Step 2: choose the fastest route you can verify
From Spain, the main routes are a transfer through a money transfer service to the hospital's naira account, a SWIFT transfer from your Spanish bank, or sending money to a trusted relative who pays at the hospital. Under the CBN rules described by Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie (March 2026), money transfer operators pay recipients in Nigeria in naira only. For speed, look for services that show an arrival time for a bank deposit to the hospital's bank, and remember that a SWIFT transfer can take longer and arrive short if intermediary banks deduct charges. See weekend transfers from Spain if it is a Saturday.
The costs to compare
- The transfer fee.
- The exchange margin against the mid-market rate.
- Any intermediary bank charges on SWIFT.
- How long the money takes to reach the hospital's bank.
Step 3: proof and records
- The itemised bill or deposit request.
- Your transfer confirmation with the hospital's name as recipient.
- The hospital's official receipt, in the patient's name, showing the amount received.
- The final bill on discharge, with any balance or refund of an unused deposit.
Ask for the final bill before discharge. Deposits are often larger than the final cost, and a refund is easier to arrange while the patient is still there.
If a relative pays on your behalf
Sometimes the hospital only takes payment at its cashier, or the fastest option is for a relative who already holds naira to pay and for you to reimburse them. Then ask the relative to pay the hospital's account or cashier, never a staff member, and to send you a photo of the hospital's receipt straight away. Reimburse them with a reference that names the patient and the hospital, so the link between the two payments is clear later.
Worked example (illustrative only)
Example: the hospital asks for a ₦600,000 deposit. You send it to the hospital's account at 10:00 Spanish time on a weekday through a service that shows the arrival time. The hospital confirms receipt, treatment continues, and on discharge the final bill is ₦520,000. You ask for the ₦80,000 difference (600,000 - 520,000) to be refunded to the account it came from or credited against follow-up care, and keep the hospital's written confirmation.
Before the next emergency
Families who face this more than once often set up a health plan for parents in Nigeria; read HMO plans for parents. It also helps to agree with siblings abroad who pays in an emergency, and to keep a little naira ready in Nigeria for the first deposit.
Where Pryme fits
With a Pryme account you can keep naira ready alongside euros and send to the hospital's account; the app shows the rate and the fee before you approve. The Personal Assistant can prepare the payment from the bill details while you confirm the account; nothing moves without your approval. Each payment can come with a verifiable receipt from VerifyDoc.ai. Naira deposits are held by a licensed Nigerian microfinance bank, regulated by the CBN and insured by the NDIC up to the applicable limit.
Questions people ask
Can a Nigerian hospital refuse emergency treatment without a deposit?
Section 20 of the National Health Act 2014 says a person must not be refused emergency medical treatment for any reason, and makes refusal an offence.
How do I know the hospital account is real?
Get the details from the billing office on letterhead, check the account name is the hospital's, and phone the hospital on a number you found yourself.
What is the fastest way to pay a hospital in Nigeria from Spain?
A transfer to the hospital's naira account through a service that shows the arrival time, or naira you already hold in Nigeria. SWIFT transfers can be slower.
Can I get back an unused hospital deposit?
Ask for the final bill before discharge and request any unused deposit as a refund or a credit, in writing.
Sources
- Blueprint (ICIR): what the law says about emergency treatment and police reports (4 Oct 2023) · accessed Oct 2026
- LawPavilion: Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act 2017 (3 Nov 2023) · accessed Oct 2026
- Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie: CBN directive routing remittances through regulated channels (Mar 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.