Home Blood Pressure Monitoring

We recommend home blood pressure monitoring for anyone who needs to regularly monitor their blood pressure. This includes anyone with a diagnosis of Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), Diabetes, Stroke or TIA, heart disease, and Chronic Kidney Disease.

Blood pressure varies from day to day and throughout the day. This means that it is better to take the average of a series of home blood pressure readings than taking a single reading in the surgery.

You can buy a good monitor for around £25 from a pharmacy or online.

Record your blood pressure for 7 days in a row. On each day, record your blood pressure in the morning and in the evening. Morning means between 06:00 and noon and Evening means between 18:00 and midnight. On each occasion take at least 2 readings, leaving at least a minute between each. If the first two readings are very different, take 2 or 3 further readings.

You may find the BIHSOC: Home Blood Pressure Diary helpful for writing down your blood pressures as you go. Then use this form for sending your readings to us. 

Blood pressure check in the surgery

Patients are welcome to use the monitor in our waiting room at Bowthorpe Health Centre.

Please come to the Health Centre between 10am and 5.30pm Monday-Friday to use the monitor.

On arriving at the Health Centre, walk through the main entrance and turn left. The blood pressure monitor is in the waiting room, curtained off by black screens. Clear instructions are provided next to the monitor.

Wear a sleeveless or thin shirt when using the monitor.

The monitor is suitable for wheelchair users.

The monitor will print out your results. Take these to reception.

If you need a blood pressure check and are not happy to use the waiting room monitor, request an appointment with a Healthcare Assistant.

If you have taken a single blood pressure measurement yourself

If you have access to a blood pressure monitor and we have asked you for a single blood pressure reading, for example for a Pill Check, use our Ask Reception a Question form to tell us the result.