A former doctor's surgery on the market for £150,000 could be a “gold-plated opportunity” to bring a GP back to a village set to welcome hundreds of new homes.

The old medical centre along London Road in Teynham was moved to its new home in Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital last May.

It comes after The Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) failed to find alternative premises following the retirement of Dr Kumar.

Patients began being cared for by Dr Lavan Nilan Sasikethan, known to patients as Dr Nilan.

However, a year on from the change patients claim the area will simply be unable to cope if the GP surgery is not reinstated following outline approval of plans for 300 new homes in Frognal Lane.

Paula Boorman, from John Nash Close in nearby Lynsted, was a patient at the Teynham Surgery for 40 years.

The 58-year-old said: “The GP situation in the area is just ridiculous.

“I am a patient with Dr Nilan at Sittingbourne Memorial and trying to get an appointment is hard enough let alone trying to get a parking space once you get there.

“I’m lucky enough to have family members who can drive me to my appointment but not everyone has that.

“There are also terrible public services on offer to get people from Teynham to Sittingbourne.

“Now all the buses have been cut it is very difficult for older patients to see their GP.

“To resolve this we need a doctor's surgery back in Teynham, the old surgery being up for sale is the perfect opportunity to do that.”

The mum-of-two feels that with the new houses set to be built early next year the lack of services will cause a chain reaction of issues.

She added: “When they start building the houses and the new roundabout that comes with them it will cause congestion.

“That congestion will get even worse when people moving into the new houses will need to travel into Sittingbourne for their health services.

“The problems will just be never-ending. The villages around here are getting bigger and we need a GP surgery to support that.

“This isn’t just about me and my family, this is about everyone getting the care and treatment they deserve from their doctor.”

Lloyd Bowen, Conservative councillor for the ward of Teynham and Lynsted, has confirmed that he, and the other Tory councillor for the area, Julien Speed, have been in discussion with Dr Nilan and the NHS over reopening the surgery.

Cllr Bowen said: “This is a gold-plated opportunity to return a GP surgery to the ward as the building is already set up as a surgery.

“It is awful that Teynham doesn’t have a doctors, especially with all the houses that are going up.

“The quicker we can get a GP back the better.”

Cllr Speed agreed, saying the auction of the building is a “perfect opportunity”.

He said: “We don’t want that building to go to waste.

“Not everyone drives and with the bus cuts many people struggle to get to Sittingbourne Memorial for their appointments so we really want to bring the surgery back to Teynham.”

Cllr Speed and Cllr Bowen have written to Dr Nilan and both MPs in Swale concerning the sale of the building.

Cllr Bowen added: “Dr Nilan has responded and I have asked if a meeting can be arranged to discuss the issue.

“Dr Nilan has said that he needs 'to think carefully about the future of the practice and what we need going forward'.

“We have made the point that an opportunity like this is unlikely to come forward again anytime soon to pick up a ready-made venue.

“Sadly the issue is not one we have any control over other than to lobby the various parties and we will continue to do this as we share everyone's concerns about the medical provision in the ward.”

Dr Nilan was approached for comment.

A spokesperson for NHS Kent and Medway integrated care board (the former CCG) said: “We are continuing to support the Medic Care Surgery as they explore options.

“The integrated care board does not own any general practice estate or have any policy in place that would allow this to be considered.”

The former GP surgery has a guide price of £150,000 and is being auctioned by Quealy & Co. For more details click here.

It is going up for sale by public auction on Thursday, June 8.