Blood Pressure Optimisation Programme
Transforming the prevention of cardiovascular disease
Heart attacks, strokes and other forms of cardiovascular disease (CVD) cause a quarter of all deaths in the UK1. CVD is also one of the leading causes of morbidity and costs the NHS an estimated £9 billion a year and economy around £19 billion annually2. And, as a major driver of health inequalities, it accounts for a quarter of the life expectancy gap between deprived and affluent communities.
Hypertension and high cholesterol are leading risk factors for CVD and are highly modifiable, with treatment substantially lowering the risk of CVD.
Despite this, both are underdiagnosed and undertreated. For example, around 30% of people with hypertension are unaware they have it and, of those who have been diagnosed with hypertension, around a third are not treated to target.
Size of the Prize
Size of the Prize is a new resource that UCLPartners has developed. For every ICS in England this shows the potential for real ambition in preventing heart attacks and strokes at scale in a short time frame by optimising the management of high blood pressure.
National Blood Pressure Optimisation Programme
The Health Innovation Network launched a national blood pressure optimisation programme aiming to transform the prevention of CVD. The programme, which ran until March 2023, aimed to transform the prevention of CVD by optimising the clinical care and self-management of people with hypertension.
Health Innovation Networks supported primary care networks (PCNs) in implementing the UCLPartners Proactive Care Framework for hypertension, part of the NHS Proactive Care @home programme. This supported primary care staff to optimise clinical care and self-management of people with hypertension through:
- Risk stratification to prioritise which patients to see first;
- Use of the wider workforce to support remote care and self-care;
- Adapting framework pathways for local implementation;
- Supporting patients to maximise the benefits of remote monitoring and virtual consultations where appropriate.
Networks also supported PCNs in identifying more patients with hypertension through case finding interventions and supported Integrated Care Systems in reducing health inequalities by targeting 20% of the most deprived populations and other local priority groups.
Find out more about the impact of the Blood Pressure Optimisation Programme.
If you have any questions about the Blood Pressure Optimisation Programme, please email primarycare@uclpartners.com.
1 https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/contact-the-press-office/facts-and-figures
2 https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2019/02/14/health-matters-preventing-cardiovascular-disease
Programme leads
