Doctor who left patient during op to have sex with nurse will not face sanctions

A doctor who left a patient under general anaesthetic mid-operation to have sex with a nurse in a nearby operating theatre will not face sanctions.

Dr Suhail Anjum, a 44-year-old married dad-of-three, and the unnamed nurse were caught in a "compromising position" by a "shocked" colleague at Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, on September 16, 2023.

The senior consultant anaesthetist had told another nurse he was going to the bathroom and asked her to watch over the patient. Instead, he slipped away to another operating theatre - partly used for storage - where the sexual encounter took place. The incident was reported to hospital management, and Dr Anjim was sacked in February 2024 after nine years at Tameside and Glossop NHS Trust.

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A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing was told another nurse later described seeing the woman “with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display”, while Dr Anjum was “tying up the cord of his trousers”. He was absent from the operating room for eight minutes and the patient was unharmed.

Last week, he told an MPTS disciplinary tribunal he wanted to resume his career in the UK after he and his family had moved back to his native Pakistan, where he has been working as a doctor.

Dr Anjum said: “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. I let down my colleagues who gave me a lot of respect.” He promised there would never be a repeat of a “one-off error of judgment”.

On Monday, the tribunal concluded Dr Anjum “had put his own interests before those of the patient and his colleagues” and that the incident “had the potential to distract Dr Anjum… and he may not have able to give his full attention to the patient’s care”.

Tribunal chairwoman Rebecca Miller said that while the patient was unharmed, Dr Anjum's actions were “significant enough to amount to misconduct that was serious”. However, she added the tribunal was satisfied Dr Anjum had shown genuine remorse and that the risk of repeating his behaviour was “very low”.

She said: “The tribunal considered that members of the public and the profession would understand the high level of scrutiny to which Dr Anjum had been subjected, and that a finding of serious misconduct would weigh heavily upon him. The tribunal was satisfied that this public finding of serious misconduct was sufficient to maintain public confidence in the profession and proper professional standards, and that there was not a necessity to make a finding of impaired fitness to practise for that purpose.”

No sanction will be imposed on the doctor and the hearing will reconvene in Manchester on Tuesday to decide whether to issue a warning on Dr Anjum’s registration.

Dr Anjum had admitted engaging in sexual activity with Nurse C and that he knew she was “likely to be nearby” when he left his patient. He also admitted his actions had the potential to put his patient at risk.