November 23, 2016

Know Your Numbers

Familiar faces Claire D’Annunzio and Jacky Carroll are used to providing excellent customer service in their roles on front of house at Seel Street, but their recent secondment over to the Liverpool Health Trainer team has seen them test their people skills in operations. The project seems to be having great success and their community blood pressure checks may even have saved a life! Jacky tells us more…

Last month Claire and I attended the Bridge Inn Community Centre in North Liverpool to deliver a drop in session for Blood Pressure Screening as part of our new pilot #HealthyLiverpoolKnowYourNumbers

As part of our role we’re always out and about taking people’s blood pressure, raising awareness and offering advice. During this particular session, one lady’s blood pressure reading was incredibly high, higher than I’d seen before in all the months of being out in the community. I took her blood pressure again to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake and it came up as even higher… this time160/90mmhg.

I strongly encouraged the lady to see her GP and explained the severity of the complications you can have with high blood pressure. I wrote her reading down for her and gave her some written information around blood pressure, I also referred her to the Know Your Numbers website.

The following fortnight, the manager of The Bridge Inn Community Centre contacted me to let me know that this lady had popped in after several weeks away from the centre. When the manager asked where she’s been the lady said she’d gone to her GP after getting her readings back and her GP had admitted her to hospital for three days because of her high blood pressure, and also high cholesterol.

I’m proud to say that the lady said she thinks “This service is really good, getting my blood pressure done that day could have saved my life”

If you know someone who wants to check out their blood pressure please contact Jacky.carroll@pss.org.uk or Claire.D’Annunzio@pss.org.uk

Also for more information check out the website www.healthyliverpool.info