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 and has been allowed to continue practising medicine in the UK.
Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, and the unnamed nurse were discovered in a “compromising position” by a colleague at Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, in September 2023.
Dr Anjum, a consultant anaesthetist, had left his patient under general anaesthetic for an alleged “bathroom break” but instead engaged in sex in another operating theatre. Another nurse was asked to monitor the patient during his absence.
During the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing, it was revealed that a staff member walked in on the nurse “with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display” while Dr Anjum was “tying up the cord of his trousers.”
The patient suffered no harm, but Dr Anjum was dismissed in February 2024 following an internal investigation. At the tribunal, he admitted his behaviour was “quite shameful” and said: “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 also acknowledged that he knew the nurse was “likely to be nearby” when he left his patient and that his actions could have put the patient at risk. Despite this, Dr Anjum expressed his intention to resume his medical career in the UK after relocating his family to Pakistan.
Tribunal chairwoman Rebecca Miller said his actions were “significant enough to amount to misconduct that was serious” but accepted that the doctor’s risk of repeating the misconduct was “very low.”
She added: “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. This public finding is sufficient to maintain public confidence in the profession and proper professional standards.”
Dr Anjum was not sanctioned by the tribunal, which is expected to reconvene to decide whether to issue a warning on his registration.
