A four-lane drive-through coronavirus assessment and treatment facility is being built in Kent.

The clinician-staffed centre is set to open on Tuesday April 14, and is expected to be one of a number of such facilities being set up nationally.

Specific patients who have made an appointment through 111 will be able to drive up in their cars to be assessed.

They will remain in their vehicles during the assessment as far as possible, in order to limit the risk of spreading the virus.

The facility is being constructed at the Estuary View Medical Centre in Whitstable on behalf of the Whitstable Primary Care Network.

The practice’s general medical services manager, who did not wish to be named, told the PA news agency that the facility will not offer testing for Covid-19.

Instead it will offer “assessment and treatment” in pre-booked 30-minute appointments.

He told the PA news agency: “We won’t have the ability to provide testing at that location.

“These patients will have already contacted 111 with their concerns.”

The service is intended for patients who have underlying health conditions, with clinicians checking they are safe and well enough to deal with their symptoms at home.

When running at full capacity, the facility will be able to see four patients at a time in four lanes, operating between 10am and 6pm, Monday to Friday.