OBJECTIVES: The UK 5 year antimicrobial resistance strategy recognizes the role 
of point-of-care diagnostics to identify where antimicrobials are required, as 
well as to assess the appropriateness of the diagnosis and treatment. A sore 
throat test-and-treat service was introduced in 35 community pharmacies across 
two localities in England during 2014-15.
METHODS: Trained pharmacy staff assessed patients presenting with a sore throat 
using the Centor scoring system and patients meeting three or all four of the 
criteria were offered a throat swab test for Streptococcus pyogenes, Lancefield 
group A streptococci. Patients with a positive throat swab test were offered 
antibiotic treatment.
RESULTS: Following screening by pharmacy staff, 149/367 (40.6%) patients were 
eligible for throat swab testing. Of these, only 36/149 (24.2%) were positive 
for group A streptococci. Antibiotics were supplied to 9.8% (n = 36/367) of all 
patients accessing the service. Just under half of patients that were not 
showing signs of a bacterial infection (60/123, 48.8%) would have gone to their 
general practitioner if the service had not been available.
CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that it is feasible to deliver a 
community-pharmacy-based screening and treatment service using point-of-care 
testing. This type of service has the potential to support the antimicrobial 
resistance agenda by reducing unnecessary antibiotic use and inappropriate 
antibiotic consumption.