Information for patients

Links

Wellington Hospital
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Clementine Churchill BMI (Harrow)
Lindo Wing, St Mary's Hospital

Patient testimonials

First, I can’t thank you enough for all your time, interest and care on Thursday.

Secondly, the one stop ‘plumb and sparks’ shop is seriously impressive, staffed by great, caring and efficient people who are fun. In about an hour to do an echo, treadmill test and take 49 blood samples etc. must be close to a W.R....

Seriously, from the patients point of view you are offering full diagnostics almost in the ‘golden hour’ whereas with most other approaches it takes more like a month! The expeditious approach apart from removing patients uncertainty which often weighs heavily means if necessary you are in to treatment almost immediately....

Patients will definitely feel that they and their quality of lfe is being put first.

Mr Y. (2010) Suffolk.

Hypertension

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is important as without treatment, it can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney failure. More than 10% of the whole population have hypertension. If your blood pressure is consistently above the target of 140/85 you need further assessment. If you have diabetes Mellitus, then any blood pressure over 130/80 probably needs further assessment.

Blood pressure should be assessed in the context of all your cardiovascular risk factors, including your age, gender, cholesterol level, smoking history and family history. In addition, some basic blood test, and electrocardiogram (ECG) and an echocardiogram (TTE), are often performed to assess your risk further. A 24-hour blood pressure monitor may help assess treatment quality, and to decide if treatment is really warranted in borderline cases.

Blood pressure is lowered by stopping smoking, losing weight and exercising. In addition a low salt, high fibre diet can lower blood pressure by as much as 5mm Hg. There are national guidelines on the choice of drug treatment (see below). Most patients will need more than one drug to achieve blood pressure control.