Rayleigh residents can join free online sessions later this month to learn how high blood pressure quietly damages the body and what they can do about it. The Rayleigh and District Primary Care Network is running two identical webinars on Thursday 25 June 2026, one at 1pm and another at 6pm, each lasting half an hour. A PCN clinician will explain how the condition strains the heart and arteries, practical steps for bringing readings down, and why knowing your own numbers matters.
Registration is open now through Microsoft Teams links posted on the network’s events page, and the 6pm slot is aimed at people who cannot log on during the working day. The clinician will cover how everyday habits, diet, and medication can influence blood pressure, alongside the risks of leaving it unchecked. The sessions were published on 16 June and follow a sharp rise in public appetite for trusted advice, with the NHS reporting hundreds of thousands of extra visits to its online blood pressure information in 2025 alone.
Around one in three adults in the UK has hypertension, equating to roughly 14.4 million people, and nearly five million are thought to be undiagnosed because the condition rarely produces noticeable symptoms. The NHS has been widening early detection programmes as the annual cost of hypertension treatment exceeds £2 billion, while cardiovascular disease drains an estimated £15.8 billion from the wider economy each year. An NHS England bulletin noted that searches for advice on risks and getting checked surged significantly during 2025, prompting local networks to offer more community education.
The Rayleigh sessions are identical in content, so residents only need to attend one.
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