A doctor who left his patient mid-operation to have sex with a nurse will not be sanctioned according to a medical tribunal ruling.
Married father-of-three Dr Suhail Anjum was concluded to be at "very low risk" of repeating his serious conduct by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS).
The 44-year-old doctor promised his "one-off error of judgement" in which he was found in a "compromising position" with an unnamed nurse by a colleague at Tameside Hospital would never be repeated.
He had asked another colleague to monitor his patient while he took a "comfort break", but instead the consultant anaesthetist entered a different operating theatre with "Nurse C".
The incident occurred in September 2023 at Tameside Hospital in Greater Manchester
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On Monday, the tribunal ruled that Dr Anjum "had put his own interests before those of the patient and his colleagues" and that the incident on September 16 2023 "had the potential to distract Dr Anjum... and he may not have been able to give his full attention to the patient's care".
Despite ruling that his actions were "significant enough to amount to misconduct that was serious", tribunal chairwoman Rebecca Miller said she considered the risk of him repeating his actions was "very low".
She added: "The tribunal considered the 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 weight 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."
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Dr Anjum was originally dismissed from his position at the hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester in February last year after an internal investigation.
He then moved back to his native country of Pakistan with his family.
However, last week he told the tribunal that he wished to resume his career in the UK.
He added that the incident occurred during a "stressful time" in his life because his youngest child was born premature in January 2023.
He said: "My wife had a very traumatic delivery, it was quite a stressful experience. We failed to connect as a couple during that time.
"It took a toll on my personal life, my mental health and well-being, and my work at the hospital."
On Tuesday the tribunal will decide if a warning should be added to Dr Anjum's registration.