Hypertension
CVD is preventable
1 in 2 strokes and heart attacks are the result of high blood pressure.
1 in 3 adults in the UK have high blood pressure.
1 in 2 adults with high blood pressure don’t know they have it or aren’t receiving treatment.
6 million people in the UK alone have high blood pressure and don’t know it.
£2.1 billion – that’s how much high blood pressure costs the NHS every year.
What is high blood pressure: If your blood pushes against your blood vessel walls with too much force, it puts a strain on your heart and blood vessels. This is high blood pressure.
Why is high blood pressure a problem? Over time it can lead to strokes, heart disease, kidney disease, vascular dementia, peripheral artery disease and erectile dysfunction
What should your blood pressure be? Ideally, we should all have a blood pressure reading between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg.
What are the symptoms of high blood pressure? Blood pressure isn’t usually something that you feel or notice. High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, so the first sign of it can sometimes be a heart attack or stroke.
Who should have a blood pressure check? All adults should have their blood pressure checked. Blood pressure becomes more common with age, so if you’re over 40 you should have a blood pressure check at least every five years
Where can you get a blood pressure check? You can have your blood pressure checked at your GP surgery, in some pharmacies, in some work places or as part of an NHS health check. It’s quick, easy, free and painless.
Robin Tuddenham having his blood pressure checked by a member of the University of Huddersfield’s get set goal team - Robin is Place Lead for Calderdale for NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, and is joint SRO of the Improving Population Health Programme
Dr Tarun Narula’s blog, CVD Prevention clinical lead for Yorkshire and Humber, and GP at West Wakefield PCN 12 May 2023 (office.com)
Ruth Buchan Community Pharmacy Clinical Lead for WY blog Ruth Buchan :: West Yorkshire Health & Care Partnership (wypartnership.co.uk)
There is lots of work happening across West Yorkshire, supporting core20plus5. Pilots and projects include outreach work in local communities, working with Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector to ensure blood pressure checks are offered and the development of blood pressure champions.
NHS England » Core20PLUS5 (adults) – an approach to reducing healthcare inequalities
There is also a pilot where some dentists are taking part in detecting people who may have high blood pressure OCDO GP Flyer.docx – This is a Y&H project led by Office of Chief Dental Officer England (OCDO).
Know your numbers week
This is an annual campaign led by Blood Pressure UK Blood Pressure UK.
Each year we are working together with our partners including NHS organisations, Local Authorities, VCSE, University of Huddersfield, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, service users and their unpaid carers to raise awareness of the importance of blood pressure checks to encourage everyone to know their numbers.
Training and education
Free Making Every Contact Count training can be accessed here to support anyone to make small changes that will help to reduce their blood pressure - https://
Watch this video in many different languages to understand the benefits of blood pressure monitoring youtube.com/watch?v=edKbuoZPNyg&list=PLUQr-7EYOp6SvE7xnzX82i8nfzENBUGy4&cbrd=1
CVD Prevent
CVDPREVENT is a national primary care audit that automatically extracts routinely held GP data covering diagnosis and management of six high risk conditions that cause stroke, heart attack and dementia: atrial fibrillation (AF), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, non-diabetic hyperglycaemia and chronic kidney disease.
CVDPREVENT will provide a foundation for professionally led quality improvement in individual GP practices across Primary Care Networks (PCNs). It will support primary care in understanding how many patients with CVD and/or the high-risk conditions are potentially undiagnosed, or under or over treated. The audit will provide data to highlight gaps, identify inequalities, and opportunities for improvement. Progress made in improving the diagnosis and treatment of those at risk of CVD, will be monitored by the audit.
Source - NHS England » CVDPREVENT