THE Community Cardiac Rehabilitation Service in North East Lincolnshire has gone from strength to strength since it was set up 12 months ago. This programme of work is supported by a 2-year grant from the Big Lottery and British Heart Foundation.
Longer term, the project will be supported by North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus.
Liz Horner the Community Cardiac Rehabilitation Nurse Specialist for North East Lincolnshire has seen 40 patients go through the Community Phase III group education and exercise programme since opening this in July of this year. In addition to that, 14 patients have completed the Road To Recovery Home Based Phase III Exercise Programme.
The programme was set up for patients who following interventions such as Coronary Angioplasty and Stent, Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting, (CABG), Valve Replacement and Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) could have access to a Community Cardiac Rehabilitation Service. Now each patient is seen on an individual basis where a full cardiac rehabilitation assessment is undertaken by Liz and where risk factors are addressed and relevant lifestyle advice is given.
Each patient is pre-assessed by undertaking a step test (as individually appropriate) and then invited to join the Phase III exercise classes at either Grimsby or Cleethorpes Leisure Centres. There they exercise under the supervision of the Community Cardiac Rehabilitation Exercise Instructor Chris Kelly and Liz Horner. The programme runs for 6 weeks.
Each exercise session is followed by a relaxation/stretching session and ends in a group education session where speakers are invited in to talk on a given topic.
Prior to the implementation of the new service, some patients, particularly those who had undergone angioplasty (where the blood vessels leading to the heart are widened) were not able to access a cardiac rehabilitation programme simply because there wasn’t one in existence.
“Its not just about getting people to exercise so they are less likely to suffer further problems,” said Liz.
“It’s about improving their confidence, both psychologically and physically. Once something like this happens people are worried about whether they can exercise and get back to a normal life again, return to work etc etc. This programme gives them the confidence to do that”
When each patient has completed the 6 wk phase III programme, Liz then refers them onto the STEPS programme – where for £2 per session they can access a 10 wk. supervised tailored exercise programme at either Grimsby Swimming Pool, Grimsby leisure Centre, Cleethorpes Leisure Centre or Immingham Leisure Centre.
They can also access the Walkwell (Walking Your Way to Health) programme free of charge. These are organised from various venues and run most days of the week by designated trained walk leaders.
Liz formerly worked on the coronary care unit at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital and was later seconded into Cardiac Rehab. She has also previously worked out in the Community both as a practice nurse and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) nurse setting up and running CHD and Heart Failure clinics within NELPCT. She also worked one day per week within the Cardiology and Medical Physics Departments looking after patients attending for Cardiac Perfusion Scans.
“The programme has proved to be extremely successful and has really helped the patients who have accessed it. On a personal level, I get deep satisfaction from the positive feedback we receive and the knowledge that we are making a real difference to our patients’ quality of life” added Liz.
Now the service is looking to work with the hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation service to provide an integrated cardiac rehabilitation service for all patients in North East Lincolnshire.
