A SCHEME that allows patients to monitor their blood pressure at home is being expanded.

More than £1million is being invested by the Scottish Government in the Scale-Up initiative, which has been trialled at more than 150 GP practices across the country.

The initiative is now to be rolled out to Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and the rest of Scotland, giving patients the chance to learn how to measure their blood pressure at home before then texting the results to an app called Florence.

This allows their GP or practice nurse to monitor the readings, so that patients only have to attend at the surgery when necessary.
More than 10,000 patients have already benefited, with the government spending £1.2m to roll out the scheme over the next two years.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “This technology brings significant benefits to patients. It enables them to have more control over how they manage their condition and greatly cuts down on the number of appointments they have to attend.

“Another benefit is more accurate readings because we know that some patients experience anxiety when attending appointments, which can lead to a temporary increase in blood pressure.

“By investing in improved technology across health and social care, we can improve patients’ experience and outcomes and free up capacity in the system.”