The club’s Lead Physiotherapist, Fran Clarkson, has begun supporting the NHS in the fight against COVID-19.
Clarkson, who has been with Derbyshire since the 2017 season, has offered her skills and previous experience of working for the NHS to make herself available during the pandemic.
With Derbyshire currently unable to train, the 35-year-old wanted to help and can now be called on for hospital work.
“I was aware there were calls going out for retired professionals and people who had gone to work in other environments who might have the opportunity to give their time to help out at a time when there is potentially a bigger need for clinicians,” she said.
“I discussed it with the club first because my priority and commitment is to my full-time role at Derbyshire and they were happy for me to explore what opportunity there was to enrol with the local NHS Trust.
“On one level I am fully qualified to work as a physio in hospitals and prior to coming to Derbyshire I was basically full-time NHS and doing sports work part-time.”
After recently completing an induction course, she is now registered to provide support for the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust.
“I’m enrolled on to what the NHS call a bank staff system so the hospital trust can contact me to offer me any shifts or days they need me to work,” she said.
“They fully understand that cricket is still my primary role and if things start shifting back towards needing more involvement at Derbyshire there’s nothing that precludes me from doing that.”
Although her role is likely to be primarily in physiotherapy, Fran is willing to take on other duties.
“My understanding is that with me living in Derby, I will probably work at Derby Royal,” she said.
“On the preliminary forms we had to say what we were happy to do and I put I was more than happy to use my physio skills to the maximum but if they needed any other kind of assistance I would be prepared to do that.
“From what they said at the induction, it’s likely that I will be involved in physiotherapy. My understanding is I would probably be on wards that are still treating patients that are suspected of having, or have recovered from, the virus but I won’t be expected to treat anyone at the more intensive care or higher-risk stage.
“They are appreciative of the help and the people coming back into work but equally they are managing the level of risk and will only place them in environments that are suited to the skills they have.”
Although Clarkson left the NHS four years ago, she will always have a deep appreciation and respect for the service.
“I love the NHS, I worked in it for such a long time and as much as we have a team environment in cricket, you absolutely have a real team environment working on those wards,” she told the ECB Reporter’s Network.
“You are all working together for the interest of that patient and I’ve got many friends for life from just working together.
“So although it’s a bit daunting going back and there are feelings of ‘can I do it, have I lost some of the basic skills I need,’ if I do get an opportunity it will genuinely be an honour just to help.”
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