“Patient Left Mid-Surgery” — Tribunal Rules Doctor Who Abandoned Surgery For Sexual Encounter Can Continue Practicing, Risk Of Repeat Behaviour Very Low

Dr. Suhail Anjum, 44, was caught in a “compromising position” with an unnamed nurse after leaving a patient under general anaesthetic at Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

The consultant anaesthetist had asked another nurse to monitor the patient so he could go to the bathroom, but instead went to another operating theatre where the sexual encounter with Nurse C took place on 16 September 2023.

At a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing, a colleague testified to seeing Nurse C “with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display” and Dr. Anjum “tying up the cord of his trousers.”

Anjum was away from the operating room for eight minutes, and the patient suffered no harm.

The incident was reported to management, and he was dismissed in February 2024 after an internal investigation.

Last week, Anjum told the tribunal he wanted to resume his medical career in the UK after moving back to Pakistan with his family, where he has been working as a doctor.

He called the incident a “one-off error of judgment,” saying, “It was quite shameful, to say the least. I only have myself to blame. I let down everybody, not just my patient and myself but the trust and how it would look.

As quoted by the Guardian UK, tribunal chair Rebecca Miller said Anjum “had put his own interests before those of the patient and his colleagues” and that the encounter “had the potential to distract Dr Anjum … and he may not have been able to give his full attention to the patient’s care.”

She described his conduct as “significant enough to amount to misconduct that was serious,” but said the risk of it happening again was “very low.”

No sanction was imposed on Anjum, though the tribunal will reconvene in Manchester on Tuesday to decide whether to issue a formal warning on his registration.

Anjum admitted engaging in sexual activity with Nurse C, acknowledging that he knew she was “likely to be nearby” when he left the patient and that his actions could have put the patient at risk.