URGENT: No change to funding of supervised RATs in Primary Care

Kia ora koutou katoa,

Further to the email that was sent on Thursday last week regarding the discontinuation of supervised RATs in primary care, careful consideration has been given to the feedback received from the sector. Thank you to those who provided input.

As a result, we are pausing roll out of the changes to funding of supervised RATs initially advised to take effect on 1 December.

The national response to COVID-19 is at another change point and we are anticipating substantive changes across the current response framework that will be announced before 15 December, which we will work through with you. This will be accompanied by details of the changes and expected timeframes for implementation. While we are not making any changes to the funding for supervised RATs right now, we are encouraging patients to do a self- administered RAT wherever possible prior to attending primary care. We encourage primary care providers to reinforce this message with their patients, and to accept a self-reported negative RAT test when triaging patients on the same day as the self-administered RAT.

We also heard your feedback that any changes need to be communicated as part of the broader testing strategy. There is currently work underway to review the COVID-19 Testing Operational Guidance for General Practice as part of the national Testing Plan. There is representation from primary care involved in the development of these documents. These will need to be approved by the National Director of the National Public Health Service and Deputy Director-General of the Public Health Agency.

We intend to work through the national groups and consultation processes that were established for any policy/ implementation changes related to COVID-19 and ensure we have understanding and agreement regarding the changes. These will then be communicated appropriately to the sector.

 Ngā mihi nui

Celeste

Celeste Gillmer (she/her)

Manager | Kaiwhakahaere

COVID-19 Testing Operations

waea pūkoro: +64 21 245 0587 | īmēra: celeste.gillmer@health.govt.nz

133 Molesworth Street, Wellington|PO Box 5013, Wellington 6140