Manchester, UK — A medical tribunal has been told that a UK doctor left a patient on an operating table under general anesthetic to have sex with a nurse in another room. The incident, which occurred in September 2023 at Tameside Hospital in Greater Manchester, came to light during a fitness-to-practice hearing for Dr. Suhail Anjum.
The consultant anesthetist, 44, who had been living in Pakistan, was applying to resume work in the UK. He did not contest the evidence presented by the General Medical Council (GMC) and admitted his actions were “shameful.”
According to the BBC, Dr. Anjum told colleagues he needed a “comfort break” and instructed another nurse to monitor the male patient. Instead, he went to a separate operating theater where he and an unnamed nurse were discovered in a “compromising position” by a shocked colleague. The doctor was absent for about eight minutes before returning to complete the procedure.
The GMC confirmed that the patient suffered “no harm” during Dr. Anjum’s absence. The nurse who found the pair reported the incident to her manager, leading to the tribunal hearing.
During the hearing, Dr. Anjum admitted to the sexual activity and acknowledged that his actions could have endangered the patient. He described the incident as a “one-off error of judgment” that occurred during a “stressful time” for his family, following the premature birth of his daughter.
“It was quite shameful, to say the least. I only have myself to blame,” Dr. Anjum told the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. He apologized for letting down his colleagues and the National Health Service (NHS) trust, expressing a desire for the “opportunity to put this right.”
