Jaipur Hospital Inquiry Blames Junior Staff for Fatal Blood Transfusion Error
A committee investigating the death of a pregnant woman at SMS Hospital in Jaipur has concluded she died after receiving the wrong blood type. The panel placed responsibility for this tragic incident squarely on five lower-level medical staff members.
Senior Officials Exonerated Despite Past Incidents
The committee's findings effectively clear senior hospital staff who supervised the accused employees. This decision comes despite at least three similar incidents being reported from the same hospital over the past two years. No senior official has ever faced accountability for these potentially deadly mistakes.
Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar ordered the formation of this investigative committee. They examined the death of Chaina Devi, which occurred in May last year following a blood transfusion error.
Five Staff Members Named Responsible
The medical education department publicly released the names of the five individuals found responsible on Tuesday. The list includes two blood bank lab technicians, Ali Haider and Nahid Naqvi. It also names nursing officer Bachchan Singh Yadav, duty doctor Vivek, and the former in-charge of the SMS Hospital blood bank.
What disciplinary actions these staff members will face remains unclear at this moment. The department has not specified any punishments or consequences for their roles in the fatal error.
Investigation Appears Closed as Political Questions Loom
With this announcement, the medical education department seems ready to close the case. This development follows the health department's recent efforts to collect information about similar incidents across multiple government hospitals in Rajasthan.
That data collection reportedly responds to a question submitted by Kota (South) MLA Sandeep Sharma. He raised the issue of wrong blood transfusions at government hospitals for the upcoming Winter Session of the State Assembly, which begins on January 28.
A letter from the medical education department to SMS Medical College, dated Tuesday, explicitly references the case. It states, "Regarding the case of death of Chaina Devi on May 23, 2025, after a blood transfusion error at SMS Hospital, Jaipur, and based on the investigation report submitted by the inquiry committee… send complete details of guilty personnel, including their name, designation, current place of posting, parent department and employment status at the earliest."
An official at SMS Hospital confirmed the committee's findings. "The committee found blood bank technicians Ali Haider and Nahid Naqvi, nursing officer Bachchan Singh Yadav, duty officer Dr Vivek and the then blood bank in charge responsible for the incident," the official stated.
