A consultant anaesthetist at Tameside Hospital asked a nursing colleague to watch over a male patient under anaesthetic so he could take a comfort break, then left theatre and was later found having sex with a nurse in a different operating theatre, a medical tribunal has been told. The doctor admitted what happened and acknowledged it could have put the patient’s safety at risk while expressing remorse.

At a hearing by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, Dr Suhail Anjum, 44, was said to have asked Nurse NT to monitor the patient in theatre five during a procedure on 16 September 2023, before leaving the room halfway through the case. He then entered theatre eight where he and Nurse C were discovered in a “compromising position” by Nurse NT. “She described seeing Nurse C with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display and Dr Anjum was in the process of tying up the cord of his trousers.”

Dr Anjum did not dispute the facts of the case and admitted engaging in sexual activity with Nurse C, he also accepted that his actions had the potential to put patients at risk. He said the incident took place during a “stressful time” for his family following the birth of his youngest child in January 2023, when his wife had a very traumatic delivery and their daughter was born premature and with very low birth weight.

Dr Anjum said :

“ It was quite shameful, to say the least. 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 said it was “unfair” to ask the anaesthetic nurse to cover for him and acknowledged that he had put Nurse NT in an “awkward” position, but he insisted the patient came first.

“But, most importantly the patient. If my doctor had gone away without telling me… this breaks me to pieces every day when I think about it. I have always set very high standards for myself because the job is my passion. 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.”

Dr Anjum left Tameside Hospital in February 2024 and has since moved back to his native Pakistan he told the tribunal he hopes to resume his career in the UK and promised that there would never be a repeat of this “one-off error of judgement”.

The tribunal heard that although Dr Anjum was absent for about eight minutes the procedure continued and no harm came to the patient. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing, which began on 11 September, is scheduled to continue until 17 September. The panel will decide whether Dr Anjum’s actions amount to serious professional misconduct and what sanctions, if any, should be imposed on his medical registration.