A chain of “low cost” private GP practices has opened its eighth clinic in London after raising investment with an online crowdfunding campaign.

The London Doctors Clinic group has raised enough to open a ‘one stop’ surgery at Canary Wharf in east London after becoming the first-ever private GP practice to go down the ‘crowdfund’ route.

“The crowdfunding was a big moment for us,” the group’s founder Dr Seth Rankin said. “It meant we could expand to meet the demand for affordable GPs in east London.”

The experienced NHS GP and commissioner has turned his expertise to tackling “intolerable pressures” of appointment waiting lists, offering £55 standard 15-minute bookings by phone or online up to the last minute.

He raised £820,000 going on the internet earlier this year to raise enough to open his eighth clinic which has been set up at Canary Wharf’s Lyca Health centre at Westferry Circus, offering blood tests, medications and certificates as well as referrals to specialists and diagnostic imaging as a ‘one stop shop’ for general health issues.

His group has treated 10,000 ‘walk in’ patients in two years and currently runs seven other clinics near major London transport hubs including Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Kings Cross, Waterloo and Victoria.