A colorectal surgeon who cracked jokes while photographing his anaesthetist colleague feeling an unconscious patient’s rectal tumour has been suspended for three-months.

The incident, which the surgeon later said was the result of a “brain explosion”, occurred four years ago when he discovered a rectal mass and a significant amount of blood mid-colonoscopy to the point where the procedure was called off early. 

He then invited the anaesthetist — a long-time close colleague — to examine the mass, describing it as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to feel a rare tumour, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal said.

A theatre nurse told hospital management that the surgeon then took a photo with his smartphone.