We regularly review patient records at the practice to maintain and improve quality and the care you receive. During a recent review, we noted that over the last 2 years we have recorded a high blood pressure reading for you (above 140\/90) during visits to the practice.<\/p>\n
There are lots of reasons why your blood pressure can be high when measured in the practice. The most likely reason is that you were unwell at the time of measurement. However, it could also be because your blood pressure is<\/i> too high, in which case we might need to do something to help.<\/p>\n
There are a lot of people whose blood pressure is<\/i> normal but reads high regularly when checked in the GP surgery. This may be due to anxiety associated with medical appointments (even if you don\u2019t feel physically anxious at the time), known as \u2018white coat hypertension\u2019. In these patients their blood pressure is often normal when checked by themselves at home, or in a more relaxed environment.<\/p>\nWhy is this important?<\/h2>\n
Persistent high blood pressure, called \u201cHypertension\u201d, is a silent disease where a person\u2019s blood pressure is raised most of the time. This can increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke over the course of a lifetime.<\/p>\n
We would like to recheck your blood pressure over the next couple of weeks.\u00a0 For the patients whose repeat readings are below 140\/90, the previous readings can be classed as a \u2018one off\u2019 and no further action will be currently needed.<\/p>\n
We would like you to submit blood pressure readings to the surgery. If you already have a monitor, or you can buy one or borrow one from a friend, you can get a monitoring form from the link below to email us on our website.<\/p>\n