00:00Ruth, Jonathan, thank you both so much for joining me. Now, a recent survey has uncovered
00:05how Brits put off blood pressure checks. Why do you think that is?
00:12The research that Tesco has done is that 15% of people don't think they have time to have
00:19the blood pressure checked. Over a third of people assume they haven't got a problem with
00:23their blood pressure because they haven't had any previous issues with the heart,
00:28but the key concerning stat is that up to 5 million people across the UK are walking around
00:33with undiagnosed high blood pressure. So, this is what the campaign is all about, is awareness to
00:39encourage people to be aware of their blood pressure and have it measured and then manage
00:45it from there. Ruth, I imagine you see a lot of people that, as Jonathan said, have no idea there
00:50was ever an issue at all. Yes, absolutely. High blood pressure is the leading modifiable risk
00:57factor for heart and circulatory disease in the UK, but it tends to not have any symptoms. So,
01:02there are so many people walking around, as Jonathan has said, who may have high blood pressure
01:08and it's often easy to treat, but if it's left undiagnosed then that's when it can cause serious
01:13illnesses. Jonathan, just explain to us how actually easy it is to treat this kind of thing
01:19because that's sort of the message that you want to get across, that it doesn't take as much time
01:24as you think and we can actually factor it into our lives. In terms of Tesco Pharmacy and broader
01:31community pharmacies, people can go and get their blood pressure checked there and then. The check
01:36can be done in a private consultation room. There'll be a pharmacist available that can advise
01:40in terms of the blood pressure readings and can potentially refer them on to the GP if high blood
01:45pressure is indicated. So, in terms of diagnosis, it's really, or knowing your blood pressure,
01:50don't delay, go and get your blood pressure checked and community pharmacy is a perfect
01:55setting to get it done quickly and simply via a professional pharmacist. Jonathan, do you think
02:01that people worry that the pharmacies are just too busy now? I mean, we've seen this Pharmacy First
02:06scheme where pharmacies have more powers to help us with illnesses and symptoms of colds and flus
02:13and things like that, but the doctors are busy, the pharmacies are busy. Are people thinking,
02:18oh, they won't have time to help me out? Maybe. You're right. The NHS, the Pharmacy First
02:24service has been really valuable to patients and given access to pharmacies for services that they
02:32would normally have had to rely on a GP for. But I would always encourage someone to go to a
02:38pharmacy, certainly a supermarket pharmacy. If they're shopping in Tesco, go to the pharmacy
02:41and ask or you can book an appointment. Obviously, prescriptions are an important part of our
02:47business, but the NHS clearly wants to support community pharmacies in providing more and more
02:51services such as the Pharmacy First service, the NHS blood pressure check service and others. So,
02:56it's a clear direction of travel for us and we're resourcing our pharmacies accordingly. So,
03:02I would always hope that we have availability for appointments and to support customers
03:07through services. And Ruth, we don't want to overwhelm services, of course, as we were just
03:11touching on there and we don't want to scare people, but what are some of those risks if
03:15people aren't getting checked? And actually, what could high blood pressure signal?
03:21So, if you have high blood pressure, it does show that you maybe have a problem or you're
03:26developing a risk factor which can cause problems with your heart. High blood pressure is a leading
03:32risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. So, if you don't take control of it and try to treat it
03:37and manage it, then you are leaving yourself at higher risk of having a heart attack and stroke.
03:42And it can be associated with other sort of conditions as well, such as kidney failure,
03:47problems with your eyesight and vascular dementia. So, it really can have a huge impact
03:51on not only your heart health, but your general health, which is why it's so important that we're
03:55raising awareness for people to know their numbers and get their blood pressure checked.
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