Tribunal hears married doctor left anaesthetised patient to have sex with nurse at Tameside
A married anaesthetist abandoned a patient under general anaesthetic to have sex with a nurse in a nearby operating theatre, a medical tribunal has heard.
Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, was said to have left a man unconscious in his care at Tameside Hospital, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, and walked into another theatre where he was caught in a “compromising position” with an unnamed nurse, identified only as Nurse C.
The incident dates back to September 2013 but only came before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) this week, after years of delay.
Andrew Molloy, representing the General Medical Council (GMC), told the hearing that Dr Anjum had been in charge of five cases in operating theatre five that day. During the third procedure, he asked a nursing colleague to monitor the patient so that he could “take a comfort break”.
Instead, Dr Anjum went into theatre eight. There, a colleague — referred to as Nurse NT — walked in and discovered him with Nurse C. According to her testimony, she saw Nurse C with her trousers around her knees and her underwear exposed, while Dr Anjum was tying up the cord of his own trousers.
Embed from Getty Images“Shocked” by what she had witnessed, Nurse NT left the room immediately. Dr Anjum then returned to his patient after an absence of about eight minutes. No harm was caused to the patient during his absence, and the operation continued without incident.
The tribunal was told that the episode was reported internally, and before the GMC case was formally opened, Dr Anjum admitted what had happened. He confirmed that he had engaged in sexual activity with Nurse C, fully aware that she was “likely to be nearby” when he left his patient.
He also admitted his actions had the potential to endanger patients.
In his evidence to the tribunal, Dr Anjum called the incident “quite shameful” and said he bore sole responsibility. “I let down everybody,” he said, “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 acknowledged that asking another nurse to cover for him had been “unfair”, and that he had placed Nurse NT in an “awkward” position by exposing her to the scene. “But, most importantly, the patient,” he added. “If my doctor had gone away without telling me… this breaks me to pieces every day when I think about it.”
The consultant, who resigned from Tameside Hospital in February 2024 and has since returned to his native Pakistan, told the tribunal he wanted to resume his medical career in Britain. He promised it was a “one-off error of judgement” that would never be repeated.
He explained that the incident had occurred during a “stressful time” at home following the traumatic birth of his youngest child earlier in 2023. His daughter was born prematurely, with very low birth weight, while his wife suffered complications. The strain, he said, left him and his wife struggling to connect as a couple.
“I have always set very high standards for myself because the job is my passion,” he told the panel. “I don’t know how and why it happened but I wish I could reverse it. I offer my sincere apologies to everyone involved and I want the opportunity to put this right.”
The tribunal will now decide whether Dr Anjum is fit to return to practice in the UK