Doctor's Mid-Surgery Misconduct Leads to Tribunal Ruling

A medical tribunal has ruled that a doctor who abandoned a patient during surgery to engage in sexual activity with a nurse poses a "very low risk" of repeating his serious misconduct. The incident occurred at Tameside hospital, where Dr. Suhail Anjum, a consultant anaesthetist, was caught in a compromising situation with an unnamed nurse.

The incident unfolded when Dr. Anjum, a married father of three, asked another nurse to monitor the male patient, who was under general anesthesia, while he went to the bathroom. Instead, he went to another operating theatre where he engaged in sexual activity with Nurse C on September 16, 2023. Another nurse witnessed Nurse C with her trousers down and Dr. Anjum adjusting his trousers.

Dr. Anjum was absent from the operating room for eight minutes, and the patient was unharmed. Following an internal investigation, he was dismissed in February 2024. He expressed his desire to resume his medical career in the UK and relocate with his family, who had moved to his native Pakistan. He acknowledged his actions as a "one-off error of judgment" and expressed remorse for letting down his patient, colleagues, and the trust.

The tribunal determined that Dr. Anjum prioritized his own interests over those of his patient and colleagues. While his actions did not compromise the patient's safety, they constituted serious misconduct. However, the tribunal was satisfied that he was determined not to repeat his past misconduct and considered the risk of repetition to be very low. No sanction will be imposed on the doctor, and the hearing will reconvene to decide whether to issue a warning on his registration. Dr. Anjum admitted to engaging in sexual activity with Nurse C and acknowledged that his actions could have potentially put his patient at risk.