GP remote blood pressure monitoring will be enhanced with 220,000 additional devices

Some 220,000 patients will receive home devices to allow their GPs to monitor their blood pressure remotely, as part of a new NHS England program.

Patients selected for home checks will use the small machines to measure their blood pressure and “send the reading to their GP for review by phone, email or via a digital remote monitoring platform”, NHS England noted.

NHS England has distributed the monitors to CCGs, who have arranged for a subsequent distribution to GPs, who will select the patients they believe will benefit the most from more regular check-ups.

The search and stratification criteria could be based on age, blood pressure level, deprivation, ethnicity, pre-existing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, NHS England said.

They also confirmed that there are no goals attached to the program for general practitioner practices.

More than 65,000 blood pressure monitors, similar to those used in general practitioners ‘offices and wrapped around patients’ arms, have already been distributed to patients.

NHS England Medical Director for Primary Care Dr Nikki Kanani said: “It is essential that people with high blood pressure keep track of their levels, so that they can report any significant changes that could indicate stroke or life-threatening heart attack and this simple but vital innovation provides people with effective and convenient care.

“By using these monitors and reporting the readings to local teams, patients can quickly and easily update GP teams with a regular snapshot of their blood pressure. These simple checks will help us save lives.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid added: “We know technology can transform the care the NHS provides to patients and these innovative blood pressure monitors will give people the tools they need to monitor their own health at home.

“This is just one way for us to support healthcare services to harness the potential of new technologies, support hard-working staff and save thousands of lives.”

The program aims to support the long-term ambition of the NHS plan to prevent up to 150,000 heart attacks, strokes and dementia over the next decade, with blood pressure monitoring “estimated to prevent 2,200 heart attacks and nearly 3,300 strokes over five years, “NHS told England.

NHS England advice Says: “Home blood pressure monitoring has been identified as a priority for managing cardiovascular disease as the NHS recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure patients can manage their hypertension from a distance , thereby reducing the need to attend GP appointments. “

It comes as NHS England has encouraged community pharmacists to proactively approach GPs and GPs to recruit patients for their new hypertension service.

All pharmacies in England can offer targeted cardiovascular (CVD) screening to patients over 40 years of age since last month as part of the hypertension screening service.

Meanwhile, a new PCN service focused on the diagnosis and prevention of CVD launched last month in a “reduced” form.

This is supported by the PCN incentive program, which rewards NCPs on “following up” patients with single high blood pressure readings to “confirm or rule out” hypertension, as well as the resulting rate of hypertension diagnoses.

And NCPs will be urged to “improve identification of people at risk for atrial fibrillation” through “opportunistic pulse checks” during blood pressure checks from April 2022.

Click to complete relevant cardiovascular CPD modules on impulse learning.