A doctor who left a patient midway through an operation to have sex with a nurse has been allowed to continue practising after a medical tribunal ruled he was at 'very low risk' of repeating the misconduct.
Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, a consultant anaesthetist, was caught in a 'compromising position' with Nurse C at Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, on 16 September 2023. He had asked a colleague to monitor a male patient under general anaesthetic while he went to the bathroom, but instead went to another theatre where sexual activity took place.
A colleague described seeing Nurse C 'with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display' and Dr Anjum 'tying up the cord of his trousers'. Anjum was absent for eight minutes, and the patient came to no harm. He was dismissed in February 2024 after an internal investigation.
At a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing, Anjum admitted the misconduct, calling it a 'one-off error of judgment' and a 'shameful' act. The tribunal found his actions 'significant enough to amount to misconduct that was serious' but concluded the risk of repetition was 'very low'. No sanction was imposed, and the hearing will decide on a possible warning to his registration.
