Mobile testing makes `perfect sense'

Neta Smith - all healthcare services are safe to access. Picture / File

The next step in Covid-19 testing and care in Northland, which will see Kaitaia Hospital partnering with nine Māori Health providers across the region to provide a mobile service in rural and isolated communities, has been applauded by Kaitaia Hospital operational manager Neta Smith.

The partnership is deploying mobile clinic nurses to each of the sites to support delivery of Covid-19 testing, flu vaccines and general health and wellbeing checks. Each new service is either operating now, or will be up and running within coming days.

The sites include Te Kāo (Whakawhiti Ora Pai, Kaitaia (Te Hiku Hauora), Rāwene (Hauora Hokianga), Kaikohe (Te Hau Ora ō Ngāpuhi), Kawakawa and Moerewa (the Ngāti Hine Health Trust, Kaipara (Te Hā Oranga), (Kaipara), and Kāeo (Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa and the Whangaroa Health Services Trust's Whānau Ora Community Clinic.

Ms Smith said ensuring that equity services for Māori families was the priority in the DHB's pandemic response, and partnering with local Māori health providers, to support and care for families living in remote communities made perfect sense.

"Māori health providers know their communities well, have established networks, community outreach services, and deliver services in ways that whānau Māori are comfortable to access," she said.

Te Hiku Hauora Whakapiri Ora manager Joanne Urlich agreed with the rationale behind partnering to deliver services for predominantly Māori communities in the Far North.

"The intention of the mobile services is to ensure whānau Māori have access to testing. Ensuring quality of access to services for Māori is the primary driver for this approach.

"We want to encourage whānau who are displaying any of the symptoms [of Covid-19], and anyone who would like to be tested, to please make contact and we can arrange a testing time and date. We will be answering community need during this time."

Covid-19 symptoms typically include a fever, tiredness and a dry cough. However, older people may present with additional symptoms including muscle and joint aches, confusion, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Whakawhiti Ora Pai general manager Errol Murray said his service was also out to reach as many high-needs Māori whānau as possible while the Covid-19 alert system was operational.

From Thursday this week, he said, the service would be moving from community to community in a campervan, taking the service to families. If anyone was unable to leave their home, for any reason, testing could be done in their home, taking all necessary health precautions.

Ms Smith added that the DHB would continue to monitor risks to ensure that all nine services were well resourced to carry out the work, and could respond collectively to any changes as the approach evolved.

Covid-19 testing involved taking mucous from the throat or back of the nose, using a special swab, which was then sent for laboratory testing, which generally took up to five days.

The Northland DHB was the first in the country to respond to the pandemic by establishing all seven of its testing sites, she added. As of Tuesday last week there had been 25 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Northland, while 3073 tests had been conducted by the region's primary care services, hospitals, community-based testing centres and aged residential care services.

Ms Smith urged people to remain confident about safely accessing other health care services during level 4 and level 3 alert periods.

"We would really like to reiterate to whānau that the health services that were operating before Covid-19 are still operating, and it's really important that whānau access the services they need," she said.

"The hospital and general practices have clear processes and environments for ensuring people who may be sick from respiratory illness, like Covid-19, are separate from others."

■For more information on Covid-19 in Northland, go to www.northlanddhb.org.nz/home/covid-19/