Sainsbury's Heaton Park supermarket in Blackley, North Manchester, UK has become the first center in the country where customers can receive medical advice from doctors in a consultation room within the supermarket’s pharmacy every day, two nights a week, and Saturday, as part of a six-pilot program.

Moreover, treatment will be free of charge for those who pay their health taxes. Patients can book appointments through their registered GP practices.

“This is not a commodity off the shelf that you can buy. Therefore if they've paid their taxes we should be providing a service that's convenient to them at no extra expense, whereas in America you pay your taxes, plus you pay for your health care off the shelf,” Dr. Mohammed Jiva, whose Doctors in Store firm runs the surgery told The Associated Press.

Similar services exist in the United States at Wal-Mart Stores Inc, but the UK clinic is different because it is part of Britain’s National Health Service. The scheme is the first example of the government’s push to make healthcare more accessible.

People who are working all day encounter difficulties in making an appointment to see their doctor during normal working hours. The NHS trust said this scheme would help to explore an alternative way to extend medical care outside of the normal GP surgery hours.

The Sainsbury’s surgery will run appointments, between 06:30 p.m. and 09:30 p.m. on Monday and Thursday, as well as 11:00 a.m. to 03:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

“This is a ground-breaking partnership that supports the government’s wider aims to make healthcare more accessible. As a major retailer, at the centre of many communities, we are in a good position to contribute to this objective by offering GPs and their patients a convenient, safe, and secure location for the provision of routine care,” Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King told BBC News.