Updated HCFS spec published
NHS England have today (6th August 2026), published an updated version of the Hypertension Case-Finding Service (HCFS) specification.
This revised version has been agreed by Community Pharmacy England and it contains a number of changes to the service requirements which were agreed as part of the 2025/26 CPCF negotiations.
Download the revised service specification
The changes to the service, come into effect on Thursday 3rd September 2026, providing pharmacy owners with four weeks’ notice.
Amongst the changes, the service has been updated to better reflect its primary purpose of hypertension case‑finding.
Signposting from general practice is now restricted to adults aged 40 years and over without a diagnosis of hypertension who have not had a blood pressure check in the last five years.
Other healthcare professionals who have been commissioned to support case-finding (such as optometrists and dentists) can request ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) following clinic checks undertaken at their practices.
Service delivery requirements have been clarified, including tighter rules on off‑site provision, for which ICB approval must continue to be sought, with limits on the number of days per annum of off‑site provision (4 days per financial year).
Eligibility for the service is focused on people without hypertension. Patients already treated for hypertension are now excluded from clinic blood pressure checks. For eligible patients, only one clinic blood pressure check is permitted every five years (with limited specified exceptions).
Expectations regarding patient consent, clinical judgement, escalation of abnormal findings and health promotion are further clarified.
ABPM requirements have been clarified, covering timing, minimum readings, follow‑up of non‑attenders and equipment availability.
Advice on record‑keeping, claiming, monitoring, post‑payment verification and service withdrawal have been aligned with the requirements in other Advanced service specifications.
Guidance has also been added on the process to request off-site provision and to provide visibility on the ICB approval framework for off‑site service provision.
