Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is a programme of exercise and/or lifestyle sessions offered to cardiac patients after they’ve had a cardiac event. It is designed to help patients get back on their feet – both physically and mentally – after a cardiac event or procedure. It can involve gym sessions or other tailored exercises, dietary advice, education, and/or emotional support.

The programme is generally open to those who have had a heart attack (MI), bypass, coronary angioplasty and those fitted with an ICD.

The programme is usually broken down into 4 phases

  1. Inpatient
  2. Immediate post discharge
  3. Outpatient
  4. Long term maintenance

Phase 1-3

Phases 1-3 usually occur soon after your event and are dictated by the hospital you were treated by. 

However, a good portion of our members reports that they did not get any rehab and this is very unfortunate as many go home needing it for either physical or mental/emotional reasons.

Phase 4

If you missed out for any reason – and this is quite possible if your SCA was not due to a heart attack, then you may be able to get yourself on a phase 4 course.  These are run by a number of hospitals across the country. 

Phase 4 Exercise Programme providers

Find Help

Check out the following Cardiac Rehabilitation Finder feature on the National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation website.

Self Help

A number of cardiac-related organisations have produced patient resources in the form of leaflets and videos so that you can part take in rehabilitation from home.

Typical Cardiac Rehabilitation exercises

BHF
East Cheshire NHS Trust