Mini Health Checks at Work

Confirmed dates for booking and drop in opportunities for individuals to visit one of our bases for a 1:1 appointment.

The mini health checks are run by our team of Health and Wellbeing Facilitators whom have previous experience of running sessions of this type and have the knowledge to provide the appropriate advice that you may find useful, following your check.

If you would like the wellbeing team to come to your base to offer health checks to your team, please click here to email us. It is the responsibility of the team requesting the visit to book an appropriate room. 

Both the team visits and 1:1 appointments are subject to capacity.

Any queries should be directed to wellbeinghub@merseycare.nhs.uk.

Find a pharmacy that offers free blood pressure checks

Use this service to find a pharmacy that offers free blood pressure checks. You can get your blood pressure checked at a pharmacy without seeing a GP.

Who can get a free blood pressure check

You can get a free blood pressure check if you:

• are aged 40 or over
• live in England

You cannot get a free blood pressure check if you:

• already have high blood pressure
• have had your blood pressure checked by a healthcare professional in the past 6 months

What happens when you get your blood pressure checked

A pharmacist, or member of the pharmacy team, will wrap a blood pressure cuff around your upper arm to measure your blood pressure. They will then share the result with you.

Depending on the result, they might:

• give you advice to support healthy living
• give you a blood pressure monitor to take home with you and return later
• advise you to see a GP

If you're registered with a GP surgery, your blood pressure reading will be added to your GP health record. It will not be shared with anyone unless your blood pressure is very high or very low and you need urgent medical help.

Click here to find a pharmacy offering free blood pressure checks

Monitoring your blood pressure at home

Home monitoring is an effective and inexpensive way to keep blood pressure under control and the evidence behind it continues to get stronger. It offers a way for you to take control of your health, feel confident, and take the pressure off the NHS at the same time. It gives you a practical way to Know Your Numbers! without visiting your GP, practice nurse, or pharmacist in person. It puts you in the driver's seat, and it really can save lives. 

Learn how to measure your blood pressure at home using the online measuring your blood at home resources hub to download a range of home blood pressure monitoring resources for this Know Your Numbers! Week and beyond. 

How to lower your blood pressure

There are lots of simple things you can do to start lowering your blood pressure and these are based around health living principles and the use of medication if needed. See the British Heart Foundation website for lots of information and support. 

Ways to lower your cholesterol

Eat less fatty food

To reduce your cholesterol, try to cut down on fatty food, especially food that contains a type of fat called saturated fat.

You can still have foods that contain a healthier type of fat called unsaturated fat.

Check labels on food to see what type of fat it has in it.

Try to eat more:

• oily fish, like mackerel and salmon
• olive oil, rapeseed oil and spreads made from these oils
• brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholewheat pasta
• nuts and seeds
• fruits and vegetables

Try to eat less:

• meat pies, sausages and fatty meat
• butter, lard and ghee
• cream and hard cheese, like cheddar
• cakes and biscuits
• food that contains coconut oil or palm oil

Exercise more

Aim to do at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of exercise a week.

Some good things to try when starting out include:

• walking – try to walk fast enough so your heart starts beating faster
• swimming
• cycling

Try a few different exercises to find something you like doing. You're more likely to keep doing it if you enjoy it.

Stop smoking

Smoking can raise your cholesterol and make you more likely to have serious problems like heart attacks, strokes and cancer.

If you want to stop smoking, you can get help and support from:

• your GP
• the NHS Stop Smoking Service – your GP can refer you or you can ring the helpline on 0300 123 1044 (England only)

They can give you useful tips and advice about ways to stop cravings.

Cut down on alcohol

Try to:

• avoid drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week
• have several drink-free days each week
• avoid drinking lots of alcohol in a short time (binge drinking)

Ask your GP for help and advice if you're struggling to cut down.

You're more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes if you:

• are over 40 years old, or over 25 if you're from an Asian, Black African or Black Caribbean ethnic background
• have a close relative with diabetes (such as a parent, brother or sister)
• are overweight or living with obesity or are not very physically active
• are from an Asian, Black African or Black Caribbean ethnic background

However there are things that you can do to lower your chances and these revolve around healthy lifestyle changes. The charity Diabetes UK have compiled 10 tips for healthy eating if you are at risk of type 2 diabetes and guidance on exercise for diabetes.

This NHS heart age calculator will compare your real age to your heart age by asking you questions about your health. You'll also find out how to improve your heart age by making some healthy lifestyle changes.