To think we shouldn’t have to buy our own blood pressure machines

YABU. Pay for your own.

The entitlement of people these days is next level.

Like most people said, the blood pressure monitors are fairly cheap and you can get a good one for less than £20.00

I appreciate you don't want to get one but ultimately it is your health. Blood pressure for women can change fairly quickly during the perimenapause/menopause years so it can become an issue even if previously you were okay and we are a high risk of heart disease as a result of this transitionary period in our lives.

It is impossible for the surgery to check anyone's blood pressure daily. You might not like it and that's fine, it's just not something that can happen on a practical level.

It's ultimately your health and your responsibility, so think about what is more acceptable: spending the £20 and self monitoring as per medical advice OR complications from unknown blood pressure changes like heart disease, stroke etc.,

You want the NHS to take your BP twice a day for a week - seriously?

Would you also object them telling someone who wanted weight loss surgery that before they could have it they need to loose a certain amount so the person had to buy some trainers?

or someone to buy their own aspirin to reduce chances of a heart attack?

or a dentist asking you to buy your own toothbrush?

if you want the medication just get yourself a machine. It is going to save you so much time, energy and stress not having to have this conversation before each of your repeat prescriptions

doesn't have to be exact - GP will be open for say a 9am and 5pm appt Monday to Thursday.

I'm sure you could book twice daily appointments with the HCA if you wanted to, but is it really worth the hassle of going in compared to a relatively small cost for a BP machine?

People will really miss the NHS when it's gone...........

The readings don't need to be done exactly at those hours - they are a suggestion. Equally you can do them when you wake and before you go to sleep or any time thereabouts that is convenient to you.

I've borrowed one from the surgery, in the past but ended up buying one because the cuffs could have smelled fresher.

This is the problem the NHS has. The expectation of the service they provide is too high.

You can get blood pressure reading for free at the surgery, or at a pharmacy. You can buy one for £10.

But you won’t. It’s not good enough. It needs to be more convenient for you.

The NHS is providing a perfectly good service in this scenario.

Well the bigger problem for me is I work shifts so can't do a 9am and 6pm reading

You need to take some level of personal responsibility for your own health. If you can't afford to £20 for your own blood pressure monitor then say so, and either don't provide the readings or get it done at a pharmacy.

Why on earth do posters think this would require 2 appointments a day?! When my DM had to do a week of BP readings for a different issue the surgery lent her a portable machine. OK so the OP's surgery clearly doesn't have this option, but it's hardly a groundbreaking idea.

It is exactly like a thermometer for kids - when it’s an ‘urgent’ situation, no thermometer is needed as it’s blatantly clear the child has a temperature. Plenty of people just check by touch, many prefer to use a thermometer.

You could inconvenience yourself by going to a pharmacist repeatedly, or you can buy your own and test yourself.

The NHS doesn’t need to provide non-essential health monitoring kit for everyone.

If you can’t afford a cheap one (my pharmacist stressed the cheap ones are exactly as good as the expensive ones) then you’ll have to go the inconvenient route of getting yourself tested daily.

You don't have to buy your own. There are plenty of places that have free machines. It's up to you if you'd prefer to trapse to a pharmacy or such every day or spend £20.
Unsure what it is you're expecting of your gp? You want to be allocated 8 appointments so you don't have to inconvenience yourself at all? That's what will kill the NHS once and for all.

The NHS is providing you a proper service.

It is checking your BP before it issues you a medication.

The most convenient way for you to do this is with your own BP machine but there are facilities available (for free) if you need them.

You would not need an appointment to check your own BP at the surgery. There is usually a machine in the waiting room or at a local pharmacy. If you were struggling due to mobility a HCA would be able to help.

You are moaning about being asked to do a very small thing to help yourself so that you can get something you want. I don't have a lot of time for that attitude.

You don't have to buy one. Most pharmacies do it for free, using exactly the same equipment.

Do you have a 'buy nothing share Everything ' group local to you on Facebook if you use it? Maybe someone there has one lying around that you could use. From an environmental pov it seems a shame everyone having to buy all this stuff!

If you speak to your surgery they will probably have one they can lend out.

What does that entail in your mind a community nurse to attend your house twice a day?

Try and find a local pharmacy that has one for customer use if you can not access the surgeries machine.

It's a good idea to have one and check occasionally as you get older. You'll probably get better, more consistent readings if you do it at home.

Has there ever been a period of time when it was possible to book twice daily appointments at your doctor's surgery?

I hate the Tories and what they have done to the country as much as the next person, but I don't think you can pin this one on them!

@TangoTarantella BP monitors are cheap and useful to have around, so yes, I do have one. My GP only asks for a single 'recent' reading though. With no indication as to what recent actually means.

Boots usually have one in their £10 Tuesday sale