LAHORE: Nishtar Hospital administration on Friday suspended from service 10 doctors, including senior registrar (surgery), postgraduate trainees, and a charge nurse over alleged negligence in a case involving a surgery performed on a patient, whose HIV screening report was yet to be received.

According to suspension orders issued by the medical superintendent (MS), the action was taken after reports emerged that a patient underwent abdominal surgery in Operation Theatre (OT)-17 of Ward No 5, on May 19, despite the non-availability of the HIV screening report.

The suspended officials include Dr Naeem Akhtar, Dr Ali Jan, Dr Eifa Qamar, Dr Syed Muhammad Asif, Dr Abeer Fatima, Dr Abu Zar, Dr Umar, Dr Samia and charge nurse Ms Rida Zahra.

Meanwhile, Punjab health department has also initiated proceedings under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (Peeda) Act 2006 against these officials.

Health dept invokes Peeda Act against those found guilty in probe

As per health department notification, Senior Registrar (Surgery) Dr Faria Ahmed, Medical Officer (MO) Dr Shahbaz Anwar, have also been suspended with immediate effect for incompetence and mismanagement, while Dr Sania Saeed’s FCPS Chemical Pathology,

Dr Irsa Arif’s MS General Surgery and Dr Muhammad Naeem Akhtar’s FCPS Orthopaedic Surgery trainings have also been suspended.

All the suspended employees have been directed to report to the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department immediately.

The order of Nishtar Hospital’s MS states the patient’s viral marker screening for hepatitis B and C had tested negative, while the HIV screening report was still awaited when the surgery was performed, allegedly in violation of protocols.

The MS terms the incident “serious negligence, misconduct and non-compliance with notified SOPs and safety protocols,” stating that it potentially exposed healthcare staff and the hospital environment to risk.

The suspended officials have been directed to report to the MS office and remain available during the inquiry proceedings, until fixing of responsibility and completion of the probe.

Meanwhile, a four-member inquiry committee constituted by the hospital administration is expected to submit its report on the issue on Saturday (today).

The committee headed by Dr Lubna Azam as chairperson, includes Dr Riwad Noor, Tahira Ghaffar and Dr Faiz Rasool as members.

The inquiry was launched after allegations surfaced that a patient underwent surgery without mandatory HIV/AIDS screening and was later turned out positive for HIV, triggering concern among healthcare workers over the possible exposure and lapses in infection-control protocols.

Nishtar Hospital spokesperson Rao Noushad says the facility’s administration had taken the matter seriously and constituted a committee to investigate the matter.

He claims that all operation theatres and surgical instruments were disinfected, in accordance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) and no negligence has been found in sterilisation and disinfection protocols.

The spokesperson says initial investigations revealed that the suspected HIV carrier was the last patient operated upon in the operation theatre concerned, therefore there was no possibility that the instruments used during the procedure were later used on any other patient without sterilisation.

He says the patient’s HIV test, conducted at Nishtar Hospital lab, had returned positive and, under SOPs, such patients are treated as suspected HIV cases.

He adds that the patient’s samples have been sent to Lahore for PCR testing and the final report was awaited.

Mr Noushad terms the reports of alleged HIV transmission risk to other patients unverified and baseless.

The incident once again puts a big question mark on implementation of infection-control protocols in the public hospital, which had previously faced scrutiny following allegations of lapses in its dialysis unit, linked to multiple HIV infections among patients.

Health minister Khwaja Salman Rafique says no negligence in treatment of patients will be tolerated.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2026