A HILLINGDON GP and his patients are urging NHS England to reinstate him following a long-running saga over patient data.

The dispute affects his two practices in Church Road, Cowley, and Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon.

Patients’ groups are due to meet Hayes & Harlington MP John McDonnell today (14) to request the matter is raised in Parliament.

They are also seeking a meeting with Dr Sashi Shashikanth’s constituency MP, Boris Johnson.

A High Court judge ruled last month that the doctor’s two contracts were unlawfully terminated – for a GP, the equivalent of being sacked - in a complex dispute.

Dr Shashikanth, who has more than 8,000 patients across his two practices, wants to appeal the court judgment.

Despite the judge’s ruling, the case was not considered applicable for a judicial review.

It potentially raises concerns for other GPs, who want to dispute decisions made by NHS England in future.

The dispute was sparked by Dr Shashikanth’s refusal to give confidential patients’ data to his local Primary Care Network.

His practices were the only surgeries that chose not to join the PCN, offering instead to deliver services themselves. As a result, his contracts were terminated.

Dr Shashikanth said: “This whole saga is totally unnecessary. At a time when GP workload is on the increase, our time, energy and resources are being diverted into fighting an unnecessary legal battle when we should be concentrating on services to our patients. 

“It’s time for this affair to be resolved, quickly, particularly because we’ve been treated differently to other similar practices in England.”

John Rogers, 78, a prostate cancer patient, who leads one of the patient groups, said: “Dr Shashikanth has been treated terribly at a time when the NHS is crying out for good doctors. 

“Patients at both his surgeries decided they did not want confidential records shared and our GP and his practices are being discriminated against as a result.”