What is home blood pressure monitoring?
Home blood pressure monitoring is when you measure your own blood pressure at home using a blood pressure monitor.
What are the benefits of monitoring my blood pressure at home?
Measuring your blood pressure at home while you go about your everyday life can help to give you and your doctor/nurse a more accurate picture of your blood pressure over time.
Everyone’s blood pressure naturally rises and falls over the course of a day and some people can be stressed or anxious when having their blood pressure taken by their doctor or nurse, making their blood pressure higher than it normally is (known as ‘white coat effect’). This means that a ‘one-off’ reading taken at your doctor’s surgery or the hospital may not accurately reflect your real blood pressure. Home blood pressure readings can avoid these problems and can help doctors and nurses to:
- Establish whether you have high blood pressure (also known as hypertension)
- Identify whether your blood pressure is higher when taken at the GP surgery or hospital than at home (white coat effect)
- Decide if blood pressure medication is required
- Decide whether any changes to blood pressure medication are required
- See how well your blood pressure medication is controlling your blood pressure
- Further investigate people whose blood pressure is hard to control.
- Monitoring your blood pressure at home can also help you to see how the medication you are taking is working and gain a better understanding of your condition.
On-Line Blood Pressure Submission
This form will allow you to submit your home readings without having to visit the surgery.
If you are on blood pressure treatment and have access to a home blood pressure machine and would like to submit your average readings to us, we will record this on your medical records.
We would recommend a BP machine with an arm cuff, not a wrist one, these can purchase from a chemist or online and are relatively cheap (usually under £20).
Please see the link here for a list of home blood pressure machines validated by the British and Irish Hypertension Society
How to take and record your Blood Pressure Readings.
- It is important to take your blood pressure when you are seated and not talking.
- Take 2 readings at least a minute apart mornings and evening and record the lowest of the two readings each time
- Record these readings for 7 days on paper
- If your machine records the pulse rate also record these
- Fill in the form below once you have all 7 days worth of readings, fill in the name of the patient, date of birth and telephone contact (only use one form per patient)
- The Message box is optional, please use if you think we should know about anything significant such as if you have had to stop any of your medicines.
- Click on the + (Plus sign) at the end of the row to add more rows
The Message box is optional, please use if you think we should know about anything significant such as if you have had to stop any of your medicines.
Ensure that all the information boxes below are completed in full.
Please monitor and record your blood pressure at home for 7 consecutive days (unless you have been advised otherwise). On each day, monitor your blood pressure on two occasions- in the morning (between 6am and 12noon) and again in the evening (between 6pm and midnight).On each occasion take a minimum of two readings, leaving at least a minute between each. If the first two readings are very different, take 2 or 3 further readings.
Use the table below to record all of your blood pressure readings.The numbers you write down should be the same as those that appear on the monitor screen- do not round the numbers up or down. In the comments section, you should also write down anything that could have affected your reading, such as feeling unwell or changes in your medication. Indicate when you have eaten and taken medication. For information about taking your blood pressure, please read the ‘Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Explained’ leaflet. Remember to take this diary with you to your next appointment/review.
