United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Cardiac Rehabilitation at ULHT and NHS Lincolnshire

What is cardiac rehabilitation?

Cardiac Rehabilitation helps people with a heart condition to look at their life, make any necessary changes, avoid further problems and to get back on their feet again- physically, emotionally, socially and vocationally.
The National Campaign for Cardiac Rehabilitation, BACR 2007

We aim to help you understand your condition, to prevent your condition from worsening and to reduce your risk of future heart problems.

We achieve this by offering an individualised programme of exercise and education designed to improve your quality of life.

Who is offered Cardiac Rehabilitation at ULHT and NHS Lincolnshire?

People who have recently experienced any of the following may benefit from cardiac rehabilitation

• Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)
• Angioplasty (Stents)
• Cardiac Surgery (Bypass grafting or Valve replacement)
• Heart Failure patients
• other cardiac condition which has caused significant impact on the individual concerned

How is the service provided at ULHT and NHS Lincolnshire?

We aim to offer an individualised service which is menu driven.

Our team of Cardiac Rehabilitation Nurse Specialists at ULHT and NHS Lincolnshire will identify your individual requirements and tailor a programme to meet your needs.

The team strives to ensure that the patients journey through the cardiac rehabilitation process is delivered in a timely manner in an environment that is appropriate to the individuals needs, therefore a close working relationship between both ULHT and NHS Lincolnshire cardiac rehabilitation staff is maintained at all times.

Cardiac Rehabilitation Nurse Specialists are employed at all four hospitals within ULHT, this includes Grantham, Lincoln, Boston and Louth.

NHS Lincolnshire employs Cardiac Rehabilitation Nurse Specialists who are responsible for delivering your care in the community setting.

In general most peoples recovery includes the following four phases:

• Phase 1 - Acute episode (inpatient)
• Phase 2 - Immediate post discharge period
• Phase 3 - Outpatient Exercise & Education programme
• Phase 4 - Long Term Maintenance

Why should people complete a cardiac rehabilitation programme?

The BACR national campaign for cardiac rehabilitation (2007) states that attending a cardiac rehabilitation programme can help achieve the following things:

• Cardiac rehabilitation helps people to change poor health habits and encourages patients and their families to actively fight back against the chronic illness that threatens their lives.
• Cardiac rehabilitation helps people regain their confidence. A fear of provoking a heart attack can lead to patients unnecessarily restricting their social and vocational activities. The myths and fears that lead to this behaviour are dealt with during rehabilitation.
• Cardiac Rehabilitation helps people to recover psychologically. In the months after a heart attack as many as 30 per cent of patients may have clinically significant levels of anxiety and 15 to 20 per cent will suffer from a significant degree of depression.
• Cardiac Rehabilitation helps people to deal with social issues such as understanding and obtaining benefits, re-entry to employment, and problems relating to health and travel insurance.
• Cardiac Rehabilitation helps people live longer.