Several hospital officials in East China's Shandong province have been fired after nine patients were accidentally infected with hepatitis B through medical malpractice.

The head and deputy head of the People's Hospital in Chengyang district of Qingdao have been removed from their administrative and the Communist Party of China posts, according to the district government.

The director of the hospital's infection-control and nursing departments, and the director and nursing head of the hemodialysis unit, have also been removed from their posts. Other implicated staff members have been disciplined.