Northampton Saints and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust are continuing to support each other during the Coronavirus pandemic, with the Club’s staff now receiving weekly testing to help create a safer environment at Franklin’s Gardens.
While Saints’ playing squad, coaches and support staff are already being tested under Premiership Rugby’s league-wide programme, this new initiative from Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust started last week and will see up to 25 additional staff tested every Tuesday.
The swab tests, which are performed by a Club doctor and then sent to Northampton General Hospital for results, are for Club staff who are working hard to deliver the safe return of competitive rugby to Franklin’s Gardens – such as the maintenance team, grounds staff, operations department, and executive group.
This development comes after Saints donated £7,500 to the NHS Trust from the sales of Club-branded facemasks, and also have been hosting NHS midwives at Franklin’s Gardens for almost two months.
“We’re extremely grateful to Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust for their extremely generous offer to test a small number of Saints staff,” said the Club’s Chief Executive, Mark Darbon.
“This will help create a safer environment for everyone involved in bringing rugby back to Franklin’s Gardens in August.
“We want to provide the safest possible environment for our people to do what they do best. Our players and support staff are already being regularly tested, but it is fantastic to extend this offer across the Club.”
