Doctor abandons patient mid-surgery for ‘shameful’ act with nurse
A shocking medical misconduct case has resurfaced in the UK, where a consultant anaesthetist left a patient under anaesthetic on an operating table to have sex with a nurse in another room.
According to the BBC, which first reported the case on 11 September 2025, 44-year-old Dr. Suhail Anjum walked out of surgery midway at Tameside Hospital in Greater Manchester in September 2023.
He told colleagues he needed a “comfort break” but was later found in a “compromising position” with an unnamed nurse, referred to as Nurse C, in a separate operating theatre.
Since that report, the case has taken over social media platforms, with many users expressing outrage at the breach of trust and debating whether Dr Anjum should ever be allowed to return to practice.
A “shocked” nurse who stumbled upon the pair “quickly walked through the theatre to the exit doors,” Andrew Molloy, representing the General Medical Council (GMC), told the tribunal.
Dr Anjum was absent for about eight minutes before returning to complete the procedure. “It is right to say that no harm came to the patient when Dr Anjum was absent from the theatre and the procedure went on without further incident,” Molloy added.
The New Indian Express, in a follow-up report on 13 September 2025, stated that the incident came to light during a fitness-to-practise hearing after Dr Anjum, who had been living in Pakistan, applied to resume work in the UK.
He admitted the misconduct, calling it “shameful” and acknowledging that his actions had the “potential to put his patient at risk.”
Dr Anjum told the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service that his conduct had been a “one-off error of judgment,” adding: “It was quite shameful, to say the least. I only have myself to blame. I offer my sincere apologies to everyone involved, and I want the opportunity to put this right.”
The doctor also cited personal pressures at the time, including a premature birth in his family and marital strain. He said he had let down both his colleagues and the NHS trust.
The BBC reported that the hearing continued on Friday, 12 September, but as of now, no fresh updates have been shared regarding the outcome.
The tribunal is still considering whether Dr Anjum is fit to return to medical practice in the UK.
