By Gazi Abbas Shahid

Copyright india

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in the United Kingdom has granted permission to resume practice to Dr Suhail Anjum a 44-year-old Pakistan-born doctor who was caught having sexual relations with nurse inside an operating theatre after leaving a patient mid-surgery at a Manchester hospital in 2023.
What did the Pakistani doctor do?
According to details Dr Suhail Anjum a consultant anesthesiologist left a patient midway during a gall bladder operation at the Tameside Hospital Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester to have sex with a nurse in another operating theatre. The duo were caught in a compromising position by another nurse who walked into the theatre and was shocked to see the woman with her trousers around her knee area with her underwear on display while Dr Anjum was tying up the cord of his trousers BBC reported.
Suhail Anjum a married father-of-three had asked reportedly asked a colleague to monitor the patient who was under general anaesthetic on the pretext of going to the bathroom but headed to an adjacent operating theatre where he engaged in sexual activity with a nurse on September 16 2023.
The Tameside Hospital management took cognizance of the incident and sacked Dr Anjum in February 2024 following an internal investigation after which reportedly fled to his home country Pakistan to avoid arrest.
Why medical tribunal gave relief to Dr Anjum?
As per the BBC report Dr Anjum had approached an MPTS disciplinary tribunal last week with a plea to resume his medical career in the UK and relocate with his family after moving back to Pakistan where he practiced as a doctor. In his plea the Pakistan-born doctor termed the shameful incident as a one-off error of judgment he would never repeat.
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 he said.
On Monday MTPS chairperson Rebecca Miller noted that Dr Suhail Anjum had put his own interests before those of the patient and his colleagues and incident had the potential to distract Dr Anjum… and he may not have been able to give his full attention to the patients care.
However the tribunal observed that while Dr Anjums actions were significant enough to amount to serious misconduct they did not put the patient at risk and the doctor was determined not to repeat his past misconduct and considered the risk of repetition to be very low.
The tribunal considered that members of the public and the profession would understand the high level of scrutiny to which Dr Anjum had been subjected and that a finding of serious misconduct would weigh heavily upon him. The tribunal was satisfied that this public finding of serious misconduct was sufficient to maintain public confidence in the profession and proper professional standards and that there was not a necessity to make a finding of impaired fitness to practise for that purpose said Miller.
While the tribunal has decided not to impose any sanction on the doctor a warning on his medical registration will remain for the next two years Daily Mail reported.
Who is Dr Suhail Anjum?
Dr. Suhail Anjum a Pakistani-born doctor moved to the UK in 2011 and started his practice in the country. The Pakistani doctor joined the Tameside Hospital in 2015 after previously working in other facilities in Bristol Milton Keynes Dartford. He also worked briefly worked in Liverpool in 2014.
In early 2024 Dr Anjum after being fired from the Tameside Hospital moved back to Pakistan with his family presumably to avoid arrest. Earlier this week the Pakistani doctor told the tribunal that wanted to resume his medical career in the UK and move back to the country with his wife and three kids.
The sensational charges against Dr Anjum which he later admitted to had garnered country-wide headlines in the UK in late 2023 and early 2024.