Doctor who left for sex mid-operation avoids ban

Dr Suhail Anjum and the unnamed nurse were caught in a "compromising position" by a colleague

A doctor who left a patient midway through an operation to have sex with a nurse is at "very low risk" of repeating his serious misconduct, a medical tribunal has ruled.

Married father-of-three Dr Suhail Anjum and the unnamed nurse were caught in a "compromising position" by a shocked colleague who walked in on the pair at Tameside Hospital, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

The consultant anaesthetist, 44, had asked a colleague to monitor the male patient, who was under general anaesthetic, so he could go to the bathroom.

Instead Dr Anjum, who was gone for eight minutes, went to another operating theatre where sexual activity took place with the nurse on 16 September 2023.

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing was told another nurse at the hospital described seeing the woman, who was called Nurse C throughout proceedings, "with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display" and that Dr Anjum was "tying up the cord of his trousers".

Dr Anjum was absent from the operating room for eight minutes and the patient came to no harm.

Dr Anjum was dismissed from his job at Tameside Hospital in February 2024

The incident was reported to management and Dr Anjum was dismissed in February 2024 following an internal investigation.

Last week he told an MPTS disciplinary tribunal he wanted to resume his career in the UK and relocate with his family after they had since moved to his native Pakistan where he worked as a doctor.

Dr Anjum promised there would never be a repeat of a "one-off error of judgment".

Giving evidence, he 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."

'Serious misconduct'

On Monday, the tribunal determined that Dr Anjum "had put his own interests before those of the patient and his colleagues" and the incident involving Nurse C "had the potential to distract Dr Anjum... and he may not have been able to give his full attention to the patient's care".

Tribunal chairwoman Rebecca Miller said his actions, while they did not harm the patient's safety, were "significant enough to amount to misconduct that was serious".

However she was satisfied that Dr Anjum was determined not to repeat his past misconduct and considered the risk of repetition to be "very low".

Mrs Miller 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.