Overview
- Hospital officials say a patient was taken for emergency abdominal surgery before mandatory HIV screening results were available and an ELISA test later indicated HIV positivity.
- The operating theatre where the procedure took place has been sealed and more than 10 doctors and paramedical staff who worked there have undergone precautionary HIV testing.
- An inquiry committee has been formed with a short reporting deadline and nine doctors plus a charge nurse have been suspended and barred from leaving station pending the probe.
- Hospital statements describe the surgery as an emergency handled at the end of the list but also call proceeding without a confirmed HIV report a breach of SOPs and serious misconduct.
- The episode revives concern about systemic infection-control failures at Nishtar after a November 2024 outbreak linked to dialysis-unit lapses and raises the prospect of wider reviews of surgical screening and sterilisation practices.