J Sainsbury has signed a ground-breaking deal to offer out-of-hours GP appointments, opening up another revenue source for Britain’s supermarkets.

After moving into clothing, entertainment and furnishings in recent years, Sainsbury’s will from next month host an evening and weekend surgery at a store in Greater Manchester. The company said yesterday that it hoped to be able to roll out the service to other stores, depending on the outcome of the six-month trial.

The move follows intense criticism of Britain’s supermarkets over sales of cut-price alcohol and their failure to help to tackle rising obesity levels.

One of Sainsbury’s rivals is already set to follow suit. Asda is understood to be close to signing a similar deal that will see a family doctor operate out-of-hours clinics at two of its stores. Gary Eardley, head of pharmacy at Sainsbury’s, said: “The Government has made it clear they want more choice for patients and we’re happy to support that.” Under the pilot scheme, a group of doctors in the Greater Manchester area will use an office in Sainsbury’s store at Heaton Park, near Prestwich, to treat patients registered at their regular practice.

The Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust is funding the pilot as well as two other trials in the region with a total of £127,000 of taxpayers’ money. Under the Sainsbury’s trial, the store’s surgery will be open between 6.30pm and 9pm on Monday and Thursday and between 11am and 3pm on Saturdays. Patients will book appointments through their normal surgery. The doctors poised to work at Sainsbury’s have set up a separate company for the venture – Doctors in Store. Dr Mohammed Jiva, who founded the concept, said he was convinced that it would take off.

He said: “Patients’ needs are changing, and so it’s important that we find ways to provide a more flexible and convenient service. There will be times I’ll be seeing patients at 8 o’clock in the evening but the nearby pharmacy will be closed and I have to shut the door. Here, patients will be able to pick up their prescription on the spot.”

He added: “Some people may go to buy their alcohol and cigarettes in the store, see we are there and maybe change their minds.”

About 90 of the supermarket’s pharmacies across the UK are now open 100 hours a week. Mr Eardley acknowledged that Sainsbury’s was hoping the trial would boost sales as well as its profile in the local community, though the family doctors initially will see only up to 70 patients a week.

“Obviously, patients will be able to do their shopping and pick up their prescription in our store, but the success of the trial depends on whether people come into the surgery in the first place.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) gave the move a guarded welcome. A spokesman said that although the BMA supported satellite practices in supermarkets, it would not want a town or village’s main GP surgery to be housed in a store. Vanessa Bourne, head of special projects in the Patients’ Association, welcomed the move. She said: “Getting an appointment in the UK is a big problem, so if this is going to make it easier to get an appointment, then that’s great.”

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