UK doctor abandons patient mid-surgery for sex with nurse

A disturbing case of medical misconduct has resurfaced in the UK, involving a consultant anaesthetist who walked out of an operation to engage in sexual activity with a nurse.

According to a BBC report on 11 September 2025, 44-year-old Dr. Suhail Anjum left a patient under anaesthesia at Tameside Hospital, Greater Manchester, in September 2023.

He excused himself by claiming he needed a “comfort break,” but was later discovered in a “compromising position” with a nurse, identified only as Nurse C, in another operating theatre.

Tribunal records show Dr. Anjum was away for about eight minutes before returning to finish the surgery.

Although the patient was not harmed, the General Medical Council (GMC) described the incident as a serious breach of professional trust.

A shocked nurse who came across the pair “quickly walked through the theatre to the exit doors,” GMC representative Andrew Molloy told the hearing.

The misconduct came to light during a fitness-to-practise tribunal after Dr. Anjum, who had been living in Pakistan, applied to resume work in the UK.

He admitted to the behaviour, calling it “shameful” and acknowledging it could have endangered his patient.

“It was quite shameful, to say the least.

“I only have myself to blame,” he told the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.

“I offer my sincere apologies to everyone involved, and I want the opportunity to put this right.”

Dr. Anjum explained that he had been under personal strain at the time, citing marital difficulties and the premature birth of a family member’s child.

He admitted he had “let down colleagues and the NHS trust.”

The hearing, which resumed on 12 September, has yet to deliver a final decision on whether Dr. Anjum will be allowed to return to medical practice in the UK.