A GP claims he has been elbowed out of practising at the surgery he owns.

Angry and concerned patients have now launched a campaign to get Dr Anant Prasad back working at the Shanti Medical Centre in Daubhill.

Dr Prasad, 67, opened the surgery in 2000 and says he is paying more than £10,000 per month in mortgage and utility bills.

However, a series of controversies at the surgery means he is having to eke out a living by doing temporary locum work elsewhere until he is able to re-apply for the Shanti Medical Centre contract.

“I am suffering very badly financially,” said Dr Prasad, who added he is unable to find full-time locum work in the interim and claims he is being blocked from locum work at Shanti Medical Centre.

He was suspended by NHS England on September 20, following allegations made by a colleague. However, this suspension was revoked on October 5.

The medical centre was taken over by the clinical commissioning group (CCG) in July after the partnership between Dr Prasad and Dr Shaista Hanif was dissolved. It was said the working relationship between the two had broken down.

The ending of their partnership meant the contract to provide care, commissioned by Bolton health bosses, was cancelled.

NHS Bolton CCG asked Bolton GP Federation to step in and run the surgery on an interim basis, which it did so in July, using locum GPs.

But Dr Prasad said that, despite making himself available, he has not been offered any locum work at the surgery.

“I think there is a lot of game-playing taking place and I am being blocked. I was told that other GPs and locums had already been booked,” said Dr Prasad.

Some patients at Wednesday’s meeting said that when they phoned the surgery to book appointments with Dr Prasad, they only learned they were being seen by another doctor when they arrived at the surgery.

Mr Michael Smith, chief officer of Bolton GP Federation “There was a period earlier this year when Dr Prasad was unavailable for work and this meant that during the crossover period it may have been the case that patients expecting to be seen by him had an appointment with another doctor instead.”

“We now have around five salaried regular GPs working at the surgery. We have put a lot of effort into getting direct patient feedback and there have been very positive comments.”

He added: “If any GP has been suspended, then we would obviously be unable to consider employing them until we had official confirmation that the suspension had been reversed.”

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, Mr Mukesh Singadia, a patient of Dr Prasad for more than 20 years, said: “This medical centre is a hub of the community and Dr Prasad is more like a family member than simply a GP. The NHS is about patient choice and our choice is that we want Dr Prasad back here as our GP.”

Others said they and their families had been his loyal patients for years and had followed Dr Prasad when he moved from other surgeries earlier in his career.

It was decided that an action group should be formed with the goal of getting Dr Prasad back in post as soon as possible.

Sit-ins, a boycott of locum doctors, petitions, legal action and even locking the doors of the building on St Helens Road were all mooted as possible course of action.

Patients are encouraged to contact the group at shantimedical420@gmail.com for more information.

Dr Prasad, who spoke at the meeting, said: “I definitely want to carry on the practice and serve my patients.”

The medical centre, which has more than 6,000 patients on its books, had been struggling for some time — its Care Quality Commission ranking was “inadequate” and it was placed in special measures.

In March the centre was ordered to pay £150,000 to three staff who had been dismissed after whistleblowing to the General Medical Council.

The centre was inspected in November and again in March. The report from the latest inspection was published in July and said there had been “no sufficient improvement” between visits.

The leadership at the practice was criticised in six areas by the CQC and the culture at the practice was also criticised.