The national rollout of the NHS Digital Health Check in England in 2024 will encourage more people to have blood pressure checks. Community pharmacies have been providing accessible BP tests for many years and more recently pharmacists have been measuring BP for the Hypertension Case-Finding Service (HCFS) as an Advanced Service in the pharmacy contract.^1,2

Changes to the regulations in April 2023 mean pharmacy technicians can now also provide the blood pressure test for the HCFS. The pharmacist or pharmacy assistant is required to measure the blood pressure in line with NICE guidance set out in its guideline NG136, ‘Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management’.^3,4,5

Measuring BP may require knowing where the brachial artery is. This artery is the main vessel supplying blood to muscles in the upper arm and elbow, and runs along the front part of the bicep, down to the indentation on the inside of the elbow.⁶

The brachial pulse may be felt at this point, about 2cm from the tendon and 2cm above the inside of the elbow. It is also the place to apply a stethoscope drum if measuring the BP manually. The BP monitor cuff may have a marking on it that should be aligned over the brachial artery when fitting it.⁷