A CONTROVERSIAL GP from Bolton has been suspended from practising for three months.

But the details of the conduct which has seen Dr Shaista Hanif sidelined remains shrouded in secrecy.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled, after a three-day hearing, that her fitness to practice was impaired.

Dr Hanif was originally alleged to have carried out on a improper relationship with a patient at the Shanti Medical Centre, in St Helens Road, between 2012 and 2016.

That allegation was published by the MPTS in the days leading up to the July hearing.

The patient, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been with the surgery since 2002.

It is not known what allegations were eventually taken forward for determination at the Manchester tribunal.

But a three-strong panel, chaired by Julia Oakford, sitting with Dr Jonathan Davies and Carol Douglas, ruled her fitness to practice was impaired and she should be the subject of a three-month suspension.

This decision will be the subject of a review hearing on a date to be determined.

Dr Hanif, represented at the hearing by counsel James Buchanan, of the Medical Protection Society, had successfully argued that the entirety of the hearing should be conducted behind closed doors.

But an application by the doctor’s representatives to not publicly release the outcome of the hearing was eventually rejected.

Earlier this year Dr Hanif was involved in a High Court case with Dr Anant Prasad, also once a partner at the Shanti Medical Practice.

The under-fire surgery had previously gone into special measures under the partnership and was ordered to pay out a total of nearly £150,000 after firing three of its reception staff for whistleblowing.

The saga eventually saw Bolton GP Federation step in and take control of the troubled centre, when the partnership between the two was dissolved.

In February, Dr Prasad took Dr Hanif to the High Court to protect himself from further financial fall-out from their working relationship over any costs that might arise in the future in relation to their partnership.

Dr Prasad won his fight in an effort to ensure that this “long-running partnership dispute is brought to an end as soon as possible”, following the case heard, by Judge Stephen Davies, sitting as a High Court judge, The judge issued his ruling on March 16.