The Guardian reported on a British healthcare provider who left an operation to quickly have sex. The newspaper named the randy provider as Dr. Suhail Anjum, a “consultant anesthetist.”
Dr. Suhail Anjum, 44, and the unnamed nurse were caught in a “compromising position” by a colleague who walked in on the pair at Tameside hospital. The consultant anaesthetist had asked another nursing colleague to monitor the male patient, who was under general anesthetic, so he could go to the bathroom.
Instead, Anjum, a married father of three, went to another operating theatre at the hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, where sexual activity took place with Nurse C on 16 September 2023.
A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing was told another nurse at the hospital described seeing Nurse C “with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display” and that Dr. Anjum was “tying up the cord of his trousers”.
Anjum was absent from the operating room for eight minutes and the patient came to no harm.
The matter was reported to management and Anjum was dismissed in February 2024 following an internal investigation. Last week he told an MPTS disciplinary tribunal he wanted to resume his career in the UK and relocate with his family after they had since moved to his native Pakistan where he worked as a doctor.
Anjum promised there would never be a repeat of a “one-off error of judgment”. Giving evidence, he 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.”
On Monday, the tribunal determined that Anjum “had put his own interests before those of the patient and his colleagues” and the incident involving Nurse C “had the potential to distract Dr. Anjum…and he may not have been able to give his full attention to the patient’s care”.
The tribunal chair, Rebecca Miller, said his actions, while they did not harm the patient’s safety, were “significant enough to amount to misconduct that was serious”.
However, she was satisfied that Anjum was determined not to repeat his past misconduct and considered the risk of repetition to be “very low”.
No sanction will be imposed on the doctor and the hearing will reconvene in Manchester on Tuesday to decide whether to issue a warning on Dr. Anjum’s registration.
Anjum had admitted engaging in sexual activity with Nurse C and that he knew she was “likely to be nearby” when he left his patient. He also admitted his actions had the potential to put his patient at risk.
So, this doctor evaded disciplinary action on his license to practice in the UK.
As to whether he’ll be allowed back to work in that hospital, I do not know.
In any event, aside from the prurient nature of the apparent offense, I’m going to make a contrarian argument.
If the doctor took a routine break, as is often the case with anesthesiologists during operations, and it was not at a critical juncture, and the patient was covered by another anesthesiologist or CRNA with an equivalent skill set, what difference does it make as to what he did for 8 minutes? As long as he came back refreshed and ready to relieve the substitute. And the substitute was competent. I’m not talking about the doctor leaving to get a drink, become impaired, or stay away for an hour. I’m talking about 8 minutes.
Put aside other issues such as the HR issue of a physician having sex with employee “at the office.” That would play into an ultimate real-world analysis. My larger point is this: anesthesiologists, and even surgeons, take routine breaks to go to the bathroom, eat, call the office, etc.
I appreciate that others will likely come to a different conclusion. But, if the doctor and nurse just shared an 8-minute meal, would this matter have come to light?
What do you think?
