A married doctor who abandoned a patient during surgery to have sex with a nurse has been cleared to return to medicine. Consultant anaesthetist Suhail Anjum, 44, was caught in a “compromising position” at Tameside General Hospital in 2023.
A tribunal ruled his actions were “serious misconduct” but a “momentary lapse of judgment,” not a pattern of behavior. The panel said there was a “very low risk” of it happening again.
Dr. Anjum admitted the allegations, calling it the “lowest point” of his career. “I am genuinely sorry and shamed,” he told the hearing. A written warning will remain on his record for two years.
The patient, who was undergoing gallbladder surgery, was not harmed. Dr. Anjum, now working in Pakistan, hopes to return to the NHS.
Should doctors who make such serious mistakes be allowed to return to work — or is this a step too far?
