Blood pressure measurements at dental and optometry appointments are being tested by the NHS to assist identify patients who may be at concealed risk for heart attacks or strokes. 
Following the success of NHS community pharmacy blood pressure checks, which have provided over a million checks in the past year and enable people to monitor their risk of cardiovascular disease without an appointment, the program will be operational in the upcoming months. 
It is believed that 4.2 million people in England suffer with high blood pressure without realising it because the ailment typically has no symptoms.

If you have high blood pressure, reducing it even a small amount can help lower your risk of stroke, heart attacks, kidney disease and vascular dementia. The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get a blood pressure test.

The NHS has piloted the scheme in local dental and optometry teams in London and Yorkshire, but now more sites across England will trial the service with patients who may not otherwise have interactions with NHS services.

There are 15 local integrated care boards across England taking part in the scheme six areas will focus on case finding at dentists, five in optometry, and four will be offering checks at both dental and optometry sites.

More than 60 clinical practices across England will trial the new approach and its expected over 100,000 blood pressure checks could be delivered over the next 12 months.

In Humber and North Yorkshire where the approach was trialled across 24 dental practices, around one in ten patients tested were found to have hypertension.

In London, five optical practices in Bexley and Hackney offered blood pressure checks to patients. A survey of those tested also indicated that around half wouldn’t have otherwise had their blood pressure checked.

Convenient

Speaking at the European Society of Cardiology Annual Conference in London, Helen Williams, NHS National Clinical Director for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention said: “These convenient checks at dentists and optometrists will enable thousands of people to monitor their blood pressure and could potentially be life-saving.

“Many otherwise healthy people over 40 only visit their GP when they’re feeling unwell, but offering these vital checks as part of routine dentist or eye test appointments means we can identify and support more people at risk.

“High blood pressure is a significant factor in many cardiovascular diseases but as it usually has no symptoms, many people don’t know they have it, so I would urge anyone offered a check to come forward.”

Ellen Davison was an NHS member of staff in a training session on how to find patients for the pilot programme when she got some unexpected news about her own blood pressure.

Ellen, 53, said: “I hadn’t seen a GP for about three years, had no medical conditions and no known family history of hypertension, did not smoke and had never taken any medication. I was moderately active, running 5K three times a week and had a relatively healthy ‘low carb’ diet though I am slightly overweight.

“I wasn’t expecting any problem to be highlighted. During the practical training session I was identified as being outside of normal range, my blood pressure was 173/84 and was advised to book an appointment my GP, which I did.

“I’ve since discovered that many of my family have high blood pressure and my maternal Grandmother died suddenly following a stroke at the age of 52.

“Although I’m slightly disappointed that I will be taking medication moving forward, I am so grateful that this potentially saved me from a more serious outcome.”

Conditions

Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention, said: “By checking our health and getting help early on we can prevent serious conditions such as heart disease and stroke – which is why schemes likes this, that make it easier and more convenient, are so important.

“This programme is an important step towards delivering community-focused healthcare, helping to shift the focus from treatment to prevention and helping people to live well for longer.”

This comes after community engagement initiatives by pharmacies throughout England this summer to encourage people to get their blood pressure tested. Well Pharmacy’s pop-up mobile health clinic in Carlisle city centre and Halifax’s Heath Pharmacy provided free blood pressure checks from “Captain BP” during the Halifax Agricultural Show.