Government’s Production Restart Scheme ends

The Government’s Production Restart Scheme (PRS), which has been providing the TV and Film industry with COVID insurance throughout the pandemic, ended at the end of last month. The PRS supported 95,000 jobs, paying out over £53m to the industry during its run, and without it, the industry will be concerned about how best to protect their cast, crew, and support staff in the months ahead. 

Over recent weeks, Cignpost Diagnostics have noticed some worrying trends in terms of infectivity - not least is the increasing length of time that people are continuing to be infectious after onset. Our return-to-work protocols, in conjunction with our Doctors service, are designed to assure safety on set.

An outbreak on a film set, particularly among the most vulnerable, could have serious financial implications in the event of shutdowns or lengthy interruptions in filming. At the moment, there is still no private sector insurance available for COVID, and we know that many are worried about how best to minimise those risks. 

We can help.

We have developed testing solutions that deliver fast results to ensure that you can provide a secure environment for your set. Following the end of the PRS, we can offer discounted rates to safeguard against interruptions in your filming schedule. We have a range of COVID testing options that can be tailored to your precise needs. In addition, our network of fixed and mobile laboratories can be used to support you whatever your testing regime. What we can offer includes: 

  • >1 hour gold standard on-site PCR tests undertaken by trained swabbers 

  • Certified travel testing to support a regular testing cadence 

  • Immunofluorescence solutions for fast results 

  • Clinician verified lateral flow services for large Supporting Actor days 

  • Bulk lateral flow products for unsupervised and unverified testing   

  • At home Artificial Intelligence lateral flow tests 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Cignpost has helped to protect over 200 different productions for many of the biggest names in the industry. If you’d like to find out how we can help you, why not get in touch? 

IT Operations