NHS urges 4.1 million undiagnosed Britons to check blood pressure

The NHS has warned that roughly 4.1 million people in England have undiagnosed high blood pressure, a condition it calls a 'silent killer' because it rarely shows symptoms. The health service is promoting free checks for over-40s as part of Know Your Numbers Week, which runs through September 13.

Bottom line — Over 4.1 million adults in England may be unknowingly at risk of stroke or heart attack, per NHS England.

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• NHS England estimates 4.1 million people in England have undiagnosed high blood pressure, according to the Mirror and the Express.
• The NHS advises anyone aged 40 or over who has not had a reading in more than five years to get tested, per the Surrey Advertiser and AOL.
• Pharmacist Raj R Patel, posting as Pharmacist Health Raj on TikTok, warned that high blood pressure 'usually has no obvious symptoms' and that you 'cannot reliably judge your blood pressure by how you feel,' the Mirror reports.
• In the North West alone, more than 500,000 adults may have undetected hypertension, Dr Paula Cowan told the Bolton News.
• The NHS's high blood pressure webpage received just over two million visits in 2025, up 36% on the previous year, according to the Surrey Advertiser and the Express.
• Blood Pressure UK says high blood pressure is the third biggest risk factor for all disease in the UK after smoking and poor diet, per the Mirror.
• Free checks are available at participating community pharmacies for over-40s without a hypertension diagnosis, the Bolton News reports. Some libraries in North Yorkshire also offer monitors to borrow, according to the York Press.
• NICE guidance recommends that if a clinic reading is 140/90 mmHg or higher, further monitoring—such as 24-hour ambulatory monitoring or home readings—should confirm the result, per the Mirror.

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