In a shocking breach of medical ethics at Tameside General Hospital, Ashton-under-Lyne, UK, Dr. Suhail Anjum, a 44-year-old consultant anesthetist, left a sedated patient during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy on September 16, 2023, to engage in sexual activity with a nurse in an adjacent operating theatre. The incident, revealed during a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing starting September 11, 2025, saw Dr. Anjum briefly hand over patient monitoring to an anesthetic nurse before meeting Nurse C in Theatre 8, where they were caught in a “compromising position” by a scrub nurse.
Dr. Anjum admitted the misconduct, citing personal stresses like marital issues, and expressed remorse, but the General Medical Council (GMC) emphasized the potential risk to patient safety, despite no harm occurring. The ongoing tribunal could result in his suspension or erasure from the medical register, highlighting the gravity of abandoning a patient under general anesthesia.
