Libraries given blood pressure monitors to loan out

Blood pressure monitors can be borrowed by adults for free under a new council initiative launched in libraries across a county.

Cambridgeshire County Council has placed 350 devices across its libraries, including Yaxley and Whittlesey near Peterborough, and said members could borrow them for up to three weeks at a time.

The authority estimated up to 50,000 people living in Cambridgeshire could have high blood pressure without realising.

"Borrowing a blood pressure monitor from a library could be the first step to reducing your risk of heart disease," said Liberal Democrat county councillor Peter McDonald.

The authority said the monitors would also be available from its three mobile libraries, where they could be loaned for up to five weeks.

High blood pressure could cause health conditions such as heart attacks, strokes and heart failure.

Many cases can go undiagnosed because there are no obvious symptoms, according to the British Heart Foundation.

Figures published by the NHS in 2021 showed the condition affected about 30% of adults in England.

Similar schemes have been rolled out in libraries elsewhere in the country, including in Devon and Wolverhampton.

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