Government launches local hypertension profiles for NHS

Public Health England has launched a series of hypertension profiles to help NHS providers to see where improvements need to be made in the treatment of high blood pressure.

Released in conjunction with the National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network, profiles have been launched for each clinical commissioning group and lower-tier local authority, showing each organisation how well it is doing in detecting and treating hypertension.

These profiles will make it easy for authorities to compare their performance with those of others across the rest of England, allowing plans of improvement to be developed for each local population.

Conditions caused by high blood pressure cost the NHS more than two billion pounds annually, and it is estimated that by reducing the blood pressure of the nation as a whole, 850 million pounds of NHS and social care spending could be avoided over the next decade.

Lorraine Oldridge, director of the National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network at Public Health England, said: "By providing hard data, local authorities can see how they compare to nearby regions and set new targets to reduce their levels of hypertension amongst their population."