Total Healthcare has introduced a unique way to fight back against the potentially life-changing or deadly impact of rheumatic fever on its large Māori and Pasifika population
The PHO introduced point-of-care strep A testing in five clinics in May 2025 that gives accurate results to patients in minutes, rather than days. Our GM, Kate Moodabe, understands it is a New Zealand first for PHOs.
The PHO jumped at the chance to speed up the testing process because catching strep A early helps stop the spread of rheumatic fever and the damage it causes to people's lives.
The fast, definitive result from point-of-care testing should also prove a game-changer in ensuring adherence with taking antibiotics and preventing their unnecessary use. “It helps with compliance with antibiotic taking if you can quickly see whether you are strep A positive, rather than waiting several days to know the test result,” Kate says.
Results from standard strep A test generally take 48 hours. Patients are encouraged to start taking antibiotics immediately, before results are known, but are obviously asked to stop if the result is negative.
Cost savings for patients
A point-of-care test is usually carried out by a specially trained nurse, avoiding the cost of a GP consultation. Tāmaki Health nurse educator Natasha Nadar led the training of nurses in how to undertake testing.
Kate says the long-term impact of rheumatic fever on people and their life expectancy and the health system is enormous.
Rheumatic fever hit the headlines in 2024 when it was revealed Pasifika and Māori were 80 times more likely to experience it than other ethnicities.
The PHO discovered five Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora testing machines were available and successfully negotiated their long-term loan.
Kate says the PHO hopes its use of the machines and seed funding of $40,000 towards testing kits will be useful for proving to Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora the value of fully funding the testing in the future.
High positive test results raise eyebrows
Already the volume of high positive tests has surprised Te Whatu Ora, with 31 percent of the 628 tests undertaken to June 2025 positive, Kate says,
Tāmaki Health public health physician Dr Hilary Baird says patients and staff are enjoying the fact that within two to three minutes they get news of a positive or negative strep A result. “People are used to the fast results from RAT testing for COVID, and this has the same speed of testing,” Hilary says.
“Tāmaki Health has a lot of patients that are lower socio-economic Pasifika or Māori and the point-of-care testing is a great opportunity to try to improve treatment. Early treatment of strep A means you are much less likely to get rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, which can be very devastating especially if young adults need open heart surgery,” she says.
Rheumatic heart disease can get worse in pregnancy and young women with mild disease symptoms can get sicker just as they are starting a family with major impacts for them and their whānau.
Each test costs the PHO about $25 so Hilary has helped prioritise when the testing is used. Busy clinics with clusters of rheumatic fever incidences were chosen as testing locations – Local Doctors clinics Dawson Rd, Glen Innes, Browns Rd and Ōtara and Henderson Urgent Care. By far the most testing is at Dawson Rd, followed by Henderson.
After someone tests positive for strep A, clinic staff assess risk to other household members before further testing, for example if others are symptomatic or they live in crowded conditions they may need to be tested.
Pictured above: Nursing staff at Local Doctors Dawson Rd where more than 300 patients have been tested for strep A using point-of-care testing. From left: Yogeeta Devi, Juliana Posini, Wendy Lio, Omed Alomar and Georgina Mikaele.
