NHS Sussex supports national campaign to find 'missing millions' with undiagnosed high blood pressure

It is estimated that up to 4.2 million people in England including 29,000 people over the age of 18 in Sussex, live with undiagnosed high blood pressure, putting them at risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and vascular dementia.

The Get Your Blood Pressure Checked campaign, supported by the British Heart Foundation, Stroke Association, Heart Research UK, Blood Pressure UK, May Measurement Month, British Society for Heart Failure and others, is urging those aged 40 years and over to get a free blood pressure test at a participating pharmacy.

NHS Sussex are urging local people to get check their blood pressure. Getting checked is quick and painless and if readings are high, people can be promptly referred to their doctor for treatment and support to bring it under control. Local community pharmacies that are signed up to the NHS Blood Pressure Check Service are offering free checks to adults aged over 40 with no history of high blood pressure and those aged under 30-39 with a family history of high blood pressure.

Additionally, local health and wellbeing services offer free, tailored support for a longer, healthier and happier life – including motivational support and techniques to help people make lifestyle improvements that they would like to make. Find out more on the NHS Sussex website.

NHS Sussex is committed to helping people stay well for longer by doing more to support them to look after their own health and wellbeing. One of the ways people can do this is by getting a blood pressure check. NHS Sussex hope to tackle health inequalities by services working together and by harnessing the potential of digital technology. NHS Sussex and Community Pharmacy Surrey and Sussex have developed a new way of working between pharmacies and GP practices to work together to further improve the care available for local people.

The Sussex Accurx pathway uses the Community Pharmacy Hypertensive Case Finding Advanced Service and AccuRx, a digital platform which can send bespoke secure text messages with links to local participating pharmacies with maps. The initiative was runner-up for the prestigious Health Service Journal Digital Award last year for its success in identifying undiagnosed hypertension in the community.

Dr Suneeta Kochhar, Clinical Lead for CVD Prevention at NHS Sussex, said: “Hypertension is the third-greatest risk factor for premature death and disability, and is a leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

“Heart attacks are the third-greatest risk factor for premature death and disability after poor diet and smoking. Many people with raised blood pressure will not experience any symptoms; raised blood pressure is easily detected but only 64.6% of those who are estimated to have hypertension know that they have it and are actively being supported in Sussex.

“About a third of people on our GP registers with hypertension may not being treated to target, if we could treat 25,000 people to target for their hypertension, we could prevent 140 heart attacks and 209 strokes in Sussex over the next three years.

“You should have a blood pressure check if you if you’re worried about your blood pressure at any time.

“If you have been diagnosed with raised blood pressure, you may need more frequent checks of your blood pressure whilst it is being treated to target.

“Monitoring your blood pressure is easy and can be done at home, at your local pharmacy or by a practice nurse at your GP surgery.”

Find out more about managing blood pressure.