Ahi Ka: Near to whanau testing to make a difference.

For throat infections: Point of care testing swab in primary health setting for Group A Streptococcus (GAS) throat infections will be taken as part of the usual clinical care pathway. Clinicians involved in primary health care will determine if testing is required at their discretion. The point of care swab will be taken at the time they are seen in keeping with clinical care pathways. The swabs will be taken by the clinicians. The approximate time taken for completing testing will be 20-30minutes (including time for swab result). Point of care testing will be embedded into primary care service provision at the point of being seen by clinicians. This is different from current care which requires swabs to be sent away to laboratories for testing. A comprehensive set-up process is set up including installation, staff training, calibration of Point of Care testing machines, Standard Operating Manuals (SOP), Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), Maintenance records, Staff will attend the training course for each test as provided by the instrument vendor. This will be delivered on-line and will take a deeper dive into the theory behind these tests, specific sample processing requirements and PoCT platform maintenance. Adherence will be monitored via audit both pre and post intervention by reviewing medical records and pathology reports. For serious skin infections. Point of care testing swab in primary health setting for Staphylcoccal skin infections will be taken as part of the usual clinical care pathway. Clinicians involved in primary health care will determine if testing is required at their discretion. The point of care swab will be taken at the time they are seen in keeping with clinical care pathways. The swabs will be taken by the clinicians. The approximate time taken for completing testing will be 20-30minutes (including time for swab result). This is different from current care which requires swabs to be sent away to laboratories for testing. A comprehensive set-up process is set up including installation, staff training, calibration of Point of Care testing machines, Standard Operating Manuals (SOP), Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), Maintenance records, Staff will attend the training course for each test as provided by the instrument vendor. This will be delivered on-line and will take a deeper dive into the theory behind these tests, specific sample processing requirements and PoCT platform maintenance. Adherence will be monitored via audit both pre and post intervention by reviewing medical records and pathology reports.