Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve early (a) detection and (b) diagnosis of high blood pressure in Lincolnshire.

The NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, plays an important role in detecting high blood pressure in people aged 40 to 74 years old, and engages 1.4 million people a year. Each year, 343,000 cases of high blood pressure are identified, resulting in 40,000 diagnoses of high blood pressure.

The latest published Quality Outcomes Framework data shows that the number of people diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2023/24 for the NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) was 18.34%, the highest recorded prevalence for any ICB in the country, and is compared to a 14.79% national average.

Over 90% of community pharmacies in the NHS Lincolnshire ICB are providing the NHS Community Pharmacy Blood Pressure Check Service. The ICB is also participating in the national blood pressure pilot in dentistry and optometry, aimed at detecting high blood pressure early in people who might not regularly visit their general practice, but who do attend dental or optometry appointments.