Choosing a hospital in Lagos for a relative, from abroad
Choose the hospital before it is needed, on three things: whether it is in your relative's HMO network, how far it is from their home at rush hour, and whether it will admit in an emergency without a large cash deposit. Write the answer down where the whole family can see it.
By Kinship · Updated 19 September 2026 · 6 min read · Information, not advice.
The options in Lagos
Public tertiary hospitals: Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) at Idi-Araba, a federal hospital with over 950 beds, and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) at Ikeja, plus Federal Medical Centre Ebute Metta. They handle the most complex cases and are the cheapest, with queues to match.
Private hospitals: among the best known are Reddington (Victoria Island), Lagoon Hospitals, Evercare (Lekki), St Nicholas (Lagos Island), Eko Hospital (Ikeja), First Cardiology Consultants (Ikoyi) and Duchess International (Ikeja). Faster, costlier, and each in some HMO networks and not others.
General hospitals and primary health centres run by Lagos State sit in between and are where the Ilera Eko state scheme is used.
What a consultation costs (Lagos, May 2026)
- Teaching hospital: about N5,000 plus N2,500 to N3,000 registration.
- Standard private hospital: about N15,000 plus N5,000 registration.
- Premium private hospital: N20,000 to N25,000 plus N8,000 to N10,000 registration.
- Emergency admission deposits at many private hospitals: N50,000 to N200,000, HMO card or not.
Emergencies
Lagos State's ambulance service, LASAMBUS, answers on 112 and 767 (toll-free) and 123. It reported responding to 97.5% of 45,277 calls between 2021 and 2025, from 16 ambulance points after ten were added in July 2025. The only published response-time study, from 2017 to 2018, found a median of 17 minutes with traffic the main cause of delay. Plan on the family or a neighbour getting the member to hospital, with the ambulance as the second option.
Questions to settle in advance
- Which two hospitals, one near home and one for serious cases, and are both in the HMO network?
- Who has the HMO card, the member's ID and some cash for a deposit?
- Which neighbour or relative can physically get them there, day or night?
- Who is the named doctor, if there is one, and how do you reach them?
Where a Kinkeeper fits
On a Kinship Plan these questions are answered once, with the member, and held by the Kinkeeper, a registered nurse the family knows by name. Kinship Well members use their health benefits through a hospital network in Lagos, and a Kinship Visit can include being alongside the member at an appointment.
Looking after an ageing parent in Nigeria from the UK
If this is your situation, the page below shows how a Kinship Plan applies to it, with prices.
Looking after an ageing parent in Nigeria from the UKRelated
Sources
- LUTH
- LASUTH
- List of hospitals in Lagos (Wikipedia, names only)
- Consultation costs and deposits (lagos.cool, May 2026)
- LASAMBUS numbers and points (Lagos Ministry of Health)
- Ten new ambulance stations, July 2025 (Guardian Nigeria)
- LASAMBUS 97.5% response rate 2021 to 2025 (VON)
- Lagos ambulance response-time study (Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg)
Prices in naira are quoted with their date because they move. Nothing on this page recommends a named provider.