If your doctor or pharmacist has recommended a blood pressure check, McCartan’s Pharmacy offers a 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring service. By recording your blood pressure automatically throughout a full day and night, it can detect patterns that a one-off clinic reading might miss — such as “white coat hypertension” or high blood pressure that only occurs at certain times.

What is involved?

At your appointment, our pharmacist will fit a small monitor and cuff to your arm (typically 15–30 minutes). You then wear the monitor for a full 24 hours going about your normal daily activities. The cuff will inflate automatically at regular intervals to take readings — you will feel a gentle squeezing sensation, which is completely normal.

What to expect while wearing the monitor

• Wear the monitor on your non-dominant arm where possible
• Keep the device dry — avoid baths, showers or swimming while wearing it
• Try to keep your arm still and relaxed when the cuff inflates
• Carry on with your usual daily routine as normally as possible
• You can sleep with the monitor on — night-time readings are an important part of the assessment

After 24 hours, you return the monitor to us. The recorded data is downloaded and reviewed, and a report of your results will be made available to you and your doctor or referring healthcare professional.

To book an appointment or find out more, please speak with one of our pharmacists at McCartan’s Pharmacy.