Hypertension Case-Finding Service – Update for 2025/26

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of premature death in England and accounts for 1.6 million disability adjusted life years.

Hypertension is the biggest risk factor for CVD and is one of the top five risk factors for all premature death and disability in England.  An estimated 5.5 million people have undiagnosed hypertension across the country.

On 31st March 2025, NHS England announced changes to the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) for 2025/26, which include important updates to the Hypertension Case-Finding Service.

Key Changes Agreed:

The service specification will be updated to provide clearer guidance on:

• • Patient eligibility, including clarification that frequent blood pressure checks requested by patients themselves are out of scope.

  • The types of patients general practices can refer for clinic BP checks in pharmacy.

  • NHS England is revising the service specification accordingly, and pharmacy owners will be notified when the final version is published via our usual communication channels. 

• Service fees from 1st April 2025

  Clinic Check fee: £10 per consultation (previously £15)

  ABPM fee: £50.85 (previously £45)

Ambulatory Monitoring Flexibility:

• NHS England is also considering alternative methods to ABPM (Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring) in cases where a patient declines ABPM.

• This may include loaning a validated BP monitor to the patient to record readings at home over a week.

The service is designed to support earlier detection and better management of high blood pressure in the community. It aims to:

1. Identify Undiagnosed Hypertension 

   • Find individuals aged 40 or over, or under 40 at the pharmacist’s discretion, who may have high blood pressure but no confirmed diagnosis.

   • Refer those with elevated readings to general practice for further investigation and formal diagnosis.

2. Support General Practice with Blood Pressure Monitoring

   • Respond to ad hoc requests from general practice to carry out clinic or ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).

   • This includes support for patients with or without a current hypertension diagnosis.

3. Promote Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours

   • Use each patient interaction as an opportunity to raise awareness of cardiovascular health and encourage healthy lifestyle changes (e.g. diet, exercise, smoking cessation).

For further information Hypertension Case-Finding Service – Community Pharmacy England