A TEMPORARY clinic is set to be built in a Tesco car park to help ease GP backlogs caused by the Covid pandemic. 

Plans have been submitted to Basildon Council to build a "respiratory CliniCabin" in Pitsea Tesco car park. 

The clinic would be set up in the car park for two years if approved and will take the "growing backlog of patients, partly due to the long-term effects of Covid", according to planning documents. 

It will provide spirometry testing - a simple test to diagnose and monitor lung conditions - as well as "routine diagnostic services" to help identify and monitor new conditions or illnesses. 

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“This would be an excellent provision for Pitsea, with residents facing backlogs and struggling to get appointments at the moment,” Conservative Pitsea South East councillor Luke Mackenzie said.

“A unit like this, somewhere that is very accessible for all residents, will make a massive difference in helping people who need care get seen in good time.”

Spirometry is test used to help diagnose lung conditions by measuring how much air you can breathe out in one forced breath.

It’s carried out using a device called a spirometer, which is a small machine attached by a cable to a mouthpiece.

The proposed “CliniCabin” is a pod-style clinical room with an air filtration system.

The planning application, submitted by the Mid and South Essex integrated care board, said: "“Despite additional resources provided there is an ongoing issue in relation to space available to provide these services across Mid and South Essex.

“As a result, the clinical commissioning groups have agreed to fund a Respiratory CliniCabin, in the Basildon area.”

The document adds: “The technology within CliniCabin enables both patient and clinician to feel safe and protected and allows routine diagnostic services to continue, regardless of Covid19 and also any other pathogens which may arise in the future."

The portable modular building, constructed using a lightweight steel frame and insulation, will be five metres long and 2.75 metres wide, split into two rooms.

A ramped access will also be installed to provide access, with external lighting in addition to the existing car park lighting.

The proposal is to locate the cabin in the front carpark, close to the main building, which will fit into two parking spaces.