STA Travel has opened a second in-store health clinic at its Manchester Deansgate agency as part of a nationwide trial.
The first travel clinic opened at its Liverpool shop in February following a partnership with Masta, part of healthcare services provider United Drug. At least two more clinics will open as part of the trial.
STA Travel business development director Ian Swain said: “The results have been good so far.”
Each clinic is staffed by a fully trained nurse and offers an appointment service to give vaccinations, malaria tablets, blood tests and medical travel advice to STA customers and the general public.
One of the advantages is the ability to use “dead retail space”, said Swain. “It’s using space that would otherwise be wasted. It’s a service for customers and a revenue opportunity for us.”
All STA customers will be made aware of the service after they book.
He added: “In terms of duty of care it is nice to be able to offer this. If we get non-STA customers coming in it raises awareness of STA to these people and that could benefit us in future.”
The retailer is developing an online booking system, to go live within weeks, for the clinics.
If there is a nurse available, holidaymakers could potentially go to the clinic straight after booking their trip.
Swain said the company would alert GP surgeries near shops piloting the service and would be happy for doctors to refer patients needing pre-travel injections to its clinics.
“We are trying to make sure our prices are in line with the general prices in the market. We want to make this a convenient service,” he said.
STA Travel introduced an online service allowing customers to order foreign currency at the end of last year.