A HEALTHCARE clinic will re-open - but some services have been taken over by a private company.

Mums were left scratching their heads after turning up to Pitsea Clinic, in High Road, to have their babies weighed, only to find the doors locked.

The listing for the clinic on the official NHS Choices website was also removed and remains unavailable.

A spokesman for the North East London Foundation Trust, which operates the site, has now confirmed that the clinic has not closed.

However, there will be different services operating from it with Virgin Healthcare taking over the health visiting team.

He added: “Pitsea Clinic will remain a delivery site for the Trust’s Children’s Services.

“The Trust is working on refurbishment plans for Pitsea Clinic.

“It is planning to move our children’s single point of access service into the site, following refurbishment, as well as community children’s services - including occupational health, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and community paediatricians.

“The clinic will also be available for all Trust staff to use as an agile work base in the heart of our community.

“The site had previously been occupied by our Health Visiting Team, who following a tender by Essex County Council, transferred to Virgin for a seven-year contract on April 1 this year and the team are now in a Virgin base in Billericay.”

Mayor of Basildon David Harrison said he was aware of other contracts for health services being taken over by Virgin healthcare, which is owned by Richard Branson.

He added: “There were services in Wickford that Virgin has taken from the Trust and I think they have taken on other services in Essex as well.

“They have to take the same staff over for legal reasons.

“The main thing is whether the same standard of care is being delivered or better.”

He added that he hoped the company had management locally or that was easily contactable.