Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation can result in significant improvement in the health and quality of life of people with coronary heart disease.  Evidence suggests that people with heart problems who have changed their lifestyle not only feel better but live longer, with mortality rates being reduced by as much as 20% to 25% over three years.

Since 2000 the Department of Health has required that all heart patients should be offered a multidisciplinary programme of secondary prevention and cardiac rehabilitation, prior to leaving hospital. Together with our partners in local referring hospitals, we have been providing this type of service in Newcastle for over ten years.  We offer rehabilitation to all our patients after a heart attack, heart surgery, or angioplasty treatment.

Rehabilitation involves help with lifestyle change, through education and counseling, as well as exercise training. The programme includes:

• learning all about heart disease
• exercises which can help
• and practical help on how to cope with the stresses of heart-related illness.

You can participate in rehabilitation programmes either here in the Newcastle hospitals or nearer to your home.  We believe in working closely with local cardiac rehabilitation support groups, as there is evidence to show that patients who attend such support groups recover better and carry on doing well.

 There are 5 stages in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Pathway:

Stage 1: Prior to treatment	Information for the patient is provided by the Primary Care team before treatment (may not be offered in all areas).
Stage 2 : Inpatient advice	Initial advice on lifestyle as part of hospital based treatment (e.g. smoking cessation, diet, alcohol, exercise). Referral sent to community nurses.
Stage 3 : Post discharge assessment	Primary Care based.  Comprehensive assessment by community nurses of cardiac risk, including physical, psychological and social needs for cardiac rehabilitation.
Stage 4 : Formal exercise and education programme	2 - 8 weeks post-discharge depending on the type of operation.  Structured exercise sessions and access to relevant support and advice. Can take place within hospital or community setting.
Stage 5 : Long term monitoring (including risk factor modification)	Long-term follow-up in Primary Care. Annual patient reviews, patient satisfaction survey, support groups.  Continuation of help with lifestyle changes, including referral to specialist advice as required (e.g. smoking cessation, diet).