A private health clinic offering Botox injections is set to open in the site of a former soft play centre.

Developers have revealed they will transform part of what was Playzone in Eddington Lane, Herne Bay, into the base for a new medical service charging up to £20 per consultation.

Pharmaceuticals expert Anshul Prashar, who is helping to direct the project, says the site will act as a walk-in centre for those with minor ailments.

“We’re not in any sort of way charging patients through the nose for these sorts of treatments - we’ll charge a minimal fee,” Mr Prashar said.

“It’ll be like a private walk-in clinic for things like urinary tract infections, chest infections, shingles, most skin infections, ear, nose and throat infections, private blood testing and ear wax removal.

“As part of the private service, we’re also going to be offering aesthetic (procedures), as well as Botox and fillers.”

The clinic will be manned by a pharmacist who has been trained to “examine, diagnose and treat minor ailments”.

Mr Prashar expects the clinic to open by June, once it receives accreditation from watchdog the Care Quality Commission.

“It’ll be a pharmacist-led clinic. What it’ll offer is another option to patients,” he added.

“If a patient is finding it difficult to get an appointment with their GP, we’re offering something for patients to get checked out by a pharmacist who’s already been trained to do this. In future, we’d like to offer it to the NHS and use it as a vaccination centre.”

Prash Patel, who owns the entire site, says the rest of the old Playzone building could be transformed into a self-storage centre.

Canterbury City Council planners gave the scheme the green light in February, arguing that the creation of the commercial space and a health clinic would improve the area.

Mr Patel believes as many as 15 jobs will be created across the two new businesses.

Before Playzone moved into the premises, the building had been home to the town’s sorting office until 2012, when the operation moved to Canterbury.

Mr Patel bought the premises last January, shortly after the soft-play centre had been put on the market for £650,000.

The businessman says the leaseholders for the site wanted to close down Playzone shortly after the outbreak of coronavirus because they believed it was no longer viable.

“It was never our intention to close it,” Mr Patel explained.

“It was such a shame. They invested a lot of money into it - but Covid’s taken a lot businesses out. It’s tragic.”

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