Shoppers at Sainsbury’s Heaton Park supermarket in Blackley, North Manchester, UK, who can’t get an appointment with their GP after 6 pm can now see a doctor at a medical centre based at the store.

The new GP surgery is staffed by local doctors who are working extra hours at the centre which opens two evenings a week and on Saturdays.

The Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust set up the supermarket medical centre in a consulting room in a pharmacy as part of a six-month pilot costing 126,000 pounds.

Patients can book to visit the Sainsbury’s GP surgery via their own registered GP practice. The surgery will be open for appointments between 6.30 and 9.30 pm on Monday and Thursday, and from 11 am to 3 pm on Saturdays.

The scheme is the first example of the government’s push to make healthcare more accessible. Last year it said shops could submit proposals to open GP surgeries.

People who are at work all day or have family commitments find it difficult to make an appointment to see their doctor during normal working hours and the NHS trust said this scheme would help to explore an alternative way to extend medical care outside of the normal GP surgery hours.

Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s, Justin King, told the BBC that:

“This is a ground-breaking partnership that supports the government’s wider aims to make healthcare more accessible.”

He said Sainsbury’s was in a good position to offer GPs and their patients a “convenient, safe and secure location for the provision of routine care”, because of its role as a “major retailer, at the centre of many communities”.

Dr Mohammed Jiva, whose firm Doctors in Store provides the GP service, told the Guardian newspaper that there is a real need for an instore scheme. He said:

“Can something like this help to give people some time back in their busy lives? We think it could be useful.”

And it appears that shoppers feel the same. Jane Sutherland, interviewed by the paper while buying fish at the store said her husband might use the new GP centre because he wouldn’t take time off work to see his normal doctor, but this new scheme gives him the option to see the doctor after work, and she added that he could “pick up a few bits while he’s here”.

Jiva said it was more than convenience that would attract people. It’s a safe place, it’s well lit, and the pharmacy is right on the premises.

But Guardian reporter Hugh Wilson was not so impressed with the waiting area, which comprises two plastic chairs and is in full view of shoppers.

However, it is early days, and people may be prepared to put up with a little discomfort to get the convenience and accessibility of an out of hours service. Kate Webb, health policy adviser for consumer watchdog Which? said:

“Recent Which? research has told us that getting evening and weekend appointments with a GP is a real priority for consumers, so this is an interesting development that could meet this demand and we look forward to seeing the results of the pilot.”

Sources: Guardian, BBC News, Which?

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD