Free blood-pressure checks in barber shops

The NHS is expanding its offer of free blood-pressure checks in the community in England to include some barber shops and mosques as well as pharmacies.

It is part of a drive to treat more people with risky but undiagnosed high blood pressure.

Experts hope making the checks available in more settings - not just GP surgeries - will help.

High blood pressure increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

But the symptoms are not always obvious.

High Street pharmacies delivered 149,865 blood-pressure checks to over-40s in May, up from 58,345 the year before.

And new funding, under the primary-care access recovery plan, will see a further 2.5 million blood-pressure checks in community pharmacies, estimated to prevent more than 1,350 heart attacks and strokes every year.

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Chief pharmaceutical officer for England David Webb said: "The enormous expansion in the number of blood-pressure checks delivered over the last year is thanks to the hard work of community pharmacies, which have more than doubled the number of blood pressure checks delivered, and the innovation of local teams, going into the heart of communities, with mobile sites that can visit places like barber's shops and dominoes clubs.

"With the number of people living with major illnesses, including heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions, set to grow substantially over the coming years, it has never been more important to put in place preventative measures like easy to access blood-pressure checks that can pick up the early signs and risks."

John Maingay, from the British Heart Foundation, urged people to take up the local checks, saying: "It's quick, easy and could help save your life."

Current venues include:

• Barber's shops, supermarkets, and community centres in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, via How's Thi Ticker?, run by the NHS and council

• a Brixton dominoes club, via Black Thrive, MYcommunity Lambeth and the NHS

• Birmingham Central Mosque

And GPs in Warrington are even offering home checks via an app.