• High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a condition which can be controlled to reduce your risk of a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease.
• In the UK there are about five million adults (one in every nine) who have high blood pressure without even knowing it, since high blood pressure itself rarely causes symptoms.
• The British Heart Foundation estimates that high blood pressure causes over 50% of heart attacks and strokes.

Community Pharmacies are offering FREE NHS blood pressure checks to people referred by their GP practice. This involves around 10-15 minutes in the pharmacy consultation room with the pharmacist. Following this, you may be invited to take home a blood pressure monitor that measures your blood pressure as you go about your daily life (this is known as Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring, ABPM). All results will be shared with your GP practice. Depending on your blood pressure reading you may be advised to speak to your GP. The pharmacist will guide you through any necessary steps depending on your readings.

What is ambulatory blood pressure monitoring?

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is when your blood pressure is automatically measured by a device at regular points as you go through your normal daily life. Measurements are taken regularly for up to 24 hours.

What is involved?

A cuff is worn around your upper arm and this is connected to a small digital blood pressure monitor which may be directly attached to the cuff or to a belt around your waist. The device is small and portable so it should not affect your normal daily activities.

Why is it necessary?

A normal blood pressure check can only provide a reading for your blood pressure at that moment in time. The ABPM automatically measures your blood pressure at regular points for up to 24 hours. This will provide your doctor with a clearer picture of how your blood pressure changes throughout the day and during the night.

Some people can also get higher blood pressure readings when they are anxious about being tested. This is called ‘white coat’ syndrome. An ABPM helps to rule this out.

Why do I need this monitoring?

There are several reasons why you may have been recommended to have ABPM:

• If your blood pressure was measured and was found to be high, ABPM can help your doctor to establish a diagnosis of high blood pressure (hypertension).
• If your blood pressure was higher because you were anxious when in the clinic (‘white coat effect’) then ABPM can help show this.
• ABPM can be used to help decide if blood pressure medication is required.
• ABPM can be used to see how well a patient’s blood pressure medicines are controlling their blood pressure throughout the day and if any change needs to be made to your current medication.
• If your blood pressure has been hard to control, ABPM can help with further investigations.
• As measurements also occur at night, ABPM can help doctors understand what happens to your blood pressure during the night.

The following links provide further information on Hypertension and related topics.

• Blood Pressure UK
• British and Irish Hypertension Society
• British Heart Foundation
• NHS website
• NICE guideline [NG136] – Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management
• NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries