A top Pakistani-origin anaesthetist has confessed to a UK medical tribunal that he abandoned a patient under anaesthesia halfway through a gall bladder operation to have sex with a nurse in a different theatre. The episode happened on September 16, 2023, at Greater Manchester’s Tameside General Hospital. The physician, Dr Suhail Anjum (44), was subsequently caught in a compromising situation by a scrub nurse.
Doctor Caught In “Compromising Position”
As per BBC reports, Dr Anjum was the consultant anaesthetist in charge of five procedures that morning. During one of the third operations, he informed colleagues that he required a comfort break, allowing an anaesthetic nurse to be left in charge. Instead, he entered another theatre where he was found with a nurse, known as Nurse C. Another colleague, known as Nurse NT, stated she entered the operating theatre to bring some equipment and saw the doctor fastening his trousers while the nurse had her trousers down. She reported the incident forthwith.
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Personal Trauma Cited As Factor
Dr Anjum admitted to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in Manchester this week that he had performed “sexual activity” on Nurse C when an unconscious patient lay under anaesthetic. “It was appalling, at least. I have only myself to blame. I let down everyone, my patient, my colleagues, and the hospital trust,” quoted Dr Anjum to the panel, as reported by The Independent. He went on, “But above all, the patient. Had my doctor left without informing me. this shatters me into little pieces each day when I reflect on it. I wish I could turn it around.”
In his defence, Dr Anjum referenced a tough personal period. His youngest daughter was born prematurely in January 2023, and his wife experienced trauma during delivery. “My wife had an extremely traumatic labor; it was a very stressful experience. We did not communicate as a couple at that time,” he informed the tribunal. He continued, “This was an unusual isolated incident. I am truly sorry and fully accept the severity of my conduct. I would like the chance to rectify this.”
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Doctor Returned To Pakistan
As per India Today, Dr Anjum resigned from Tameside Hospital in February 2024 and subsequently worked for a short while in Liverpool before going back to Pakistan. A University of Health Sciences, Lahore (2004) graduate, he has been working in the UK since 2011. In spite of the scandal, he indicated a willingness to return to the UK to continue his medical practice. “I am passionate about my job.”. It was a moment of lapse of judgment, and it shall not happen again,” he told the tribunal.
The court was told that although the anaesthetised patient was not injured during the short period of absence, the risk incurred was “serious and unacceptable. Andrew Molloy, for the General Medical Council, told him, “There is no disagreement that he signaled to the anaesthetic nurse that he was going to the bathroom. But instead, he was found in a compromising position.”
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