Tesco launches free blood pressure checks for shoppers

Tesco is offering free blood pressure checks to shoppers in partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The supermarket giant is encouraging customers and staff to take up a free NHS blood pressure check, and is working with the charity to share information on blood pressure with shoppers.

The blood pressure checks are available at Tesco pharmacies without shoppers needing to book an appointment.

It comes after research from the grocer found 15% of adults cited lack of time as their main reason they don’t get their blood pressure checked, while there was also confusion over when to check and how to understand a reading.

More than a third of Brits surveyed were also not confident in knowing the range of a normal blood pressure.

The research coincides with the BHF’s campaign to “keep hearts beating this heart month” throughout February.

The charity estimates up to 5m people could be living with undiagnosed high blood pressure in the UK.

Supporting the campaign, chef, food writer and author Anjula Devi had her blood pressure checked at the Tesco Gatwick Extra store.

Devi also created a recipe to support the charity’s heart month – red lentils topped with sweet potatoes and mixed roasted seeds.

Tesco pharmacy services manager Jonathan Bridgett said: “We know how important it is for people to get their blood pressure checked, and seeing some of the survey results shows that many people don’t realise just how convenient and quick a free check in a Tesco pharmacy can be, especially without the need for an appointment.

“People can make a number of small changes to their lifestyle that support heart health, and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and I’m happy to be working with British Heart Foundation again to highlight this important issue and hopefully prevent heart attacks and strokes.”

In February 2022, Tesco became the first supermarket to begin registering its 2,190 defibrillators to a new national database established by the BHF.

The database, called The Circuit: The National Defibrillator Network, aimed to map all public access defibrillators, enabling ambulance services to direct bystanders to the nearest registered defibrillator if they saw somebody having a cardiac arrest.

In July the same year, Tesco also teamed up with the BHF, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK to train its pharmacists and pharmacy staff in an effort to help customers make improvements to their health.

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