Inequities in hypertension management: observational cross-sectional study in North East London using electronic health records

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in the UK. In the past decade, the reduction in CVD mortality has stalled and, for some disadvantaged groups, mortality rates have actually increased.1–3 The importance of effective control of blood pressure in people with hypertension is recognised at local, national, and international level as a major contributor to reduction in CVD-related morbidity and mortality.

Health inequities in the management of hypertension have been investigated in several regional and national patient cohorts in the UK and these have found the Black ethnicity group to be significantly less likely to have controlled blood pressure than the White ethnicity group and, in some studies, the Asian ethnicity group to have better controlled blood pressure. Similar inequities have been described in Europe and the US.

The North East London locations investigated in the current study are among the most ethnically diverse and deprived in the UK.13 However, supported by local quality improvement programmes, the control of blood pressure was among the best in England in the national NHS Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) reward and incentive programme up until the pandemic