Latest Doctors News
Blood pressure checks to be confirmed at home
Published On: 24th August 2011
By: Joe Elvin
Patients diagnosed with high blood pressure will have to confirm this at home themselves under new health guidelines.
In order to be officially diagnosed with the condition, patients will have to wear a medical device which measures their blood pressure over 24 hours.
The move comes after it was revealed that many people give misleading readings to GPs or those in locums jobs because they get nervous in doctors surgeries.
According to The Daily Mail, this has led to as many as one in four patients being given treatment they don't actually need.
University of Birmingham Professor Richard McManus was part of a team of researchers to make this conclusion. Speaking to BBC News, he explained why home testing would benefit both patients and those looking after them.
He said: "This research shows that ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at the time of diagnosis of high blood pressure would allow better targeting of treatment and is cost-saving.
"Treatment with blood pressure lowering medication is usually lifelong and so it is worth getting the decision to start right in the first place."
The changes won't be implemented until next year and are expected to cost the NHS around £2.5 million. However, it is thought that these costs will be recouped because of the decreased amount of treatment expected as a result.