Rotary Stroke and Health Awareness Day  The Rotary Club of Doncaster St Leger again partnered the Doncaster Primary Care Trust and the Stroke Association in carrying out free blood pressure checks in prominent Doncaster locations  on ‘Rotary Stroke and Health Awareness Day’ at the end of April.   This national event is in its sixth year and was again highly successful locally with some 630 checks taking place – with some urgent referrals being made as a consequence of the checks.  During the testing in Doncaster 137 people were referred to their GPs, some 22%, including 18 urgent referrals. There is no doubt that blood pressure testing can save lives.   Every five minutes someone in the UK has a stroke and many thousands of people are completely unaware of their high blood pressure. 

High blood pressure can be reduced through medication and controlled by changes in diet and lifestyle.     

A Rotary spokesman commented that Rotarians believe that stroke is a major issue for our communities and costs too many people their lives, too many carers great suffering and hardship, and costs the national health service billions of pounds every year.  Awareness and prevention are vital and the club is delighted to be able to work with its partners in organising these checks each year.