Cardiac Rehabilitation
Cardiac Rehabilitation is a comprehensive recovery service offered to patients and their partners following:
- a heart attack
- a PCI (stent insertion)
- Coronary artery bypass grafts
- Valve/TAVI surgery/other cadiac surgery
Phase One - Contact
Following your clinical event or procedure, you will be contacted by telephone to discuss your recovery and any issues regarding your procedure, medication, symptoms and cardiac rehabilitation.
Phase Two - Cadiac Event Follow-up Clinic (CEFU)
Dorchester on a Friday morning at: Diabetes Centre, 50 Bridport Road, Dorchester DT1 2NQ
Weymouth on a Thursday morning at: Lower Ground Floor, Weymouth Community Hospital, Melcombe Avenue, Weymouth DT4 7TB
At this 40-minute clinic appointment your symptoms, cardiac risk factors, medication and treatment plan will all be reviewed and discussed in order to develop a holistic recovery plan.
Phase Three: Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme
There are two methods of delivering a Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme:
The leisure centre/community based Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme is delivered by a Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist Nurse and a qualified Cardiac Exercise Trained exercise trainer in four different venues. These are:
Monday 1pm – 3.30pm at The Dance Studio, Blandford, DT11 7HE
Monday 11.15am – 1.45pm at Redlands Community Sports Hub, Dorchester Road, Redlands, Weymouth DT3 5AW
Tuesday 11am – 1.30pm at Bridport Football Club, St.Mary's Field, Skilling Hill Road, Bridport, Dorset DT6 5LA
Wednesday 10.15am – 12.45pm at Dorchester Rugby Club, Coburg Road, Dorchester, DT1 2HX
This programme will offer seven weekly, two-and-a-half hour sessions containing an initial weekly assessment of symptoms, blood pressure and heart rate. You will then be assisted to exercise optimally for an hour including a 15 minute warm-up and cool-down.
Following the exercises, there is a health education session, covering a different topic each week. The topics include:
- The Heart – anatomy and procedures
- Medications
- Diet – delivered by a dietitian
- Risk Factors
- Stress and Relaxation
- Benefits of Exercise - delivered by the exercise trainer
- Basic Life support
The Home-Based Heart Manual is the alternative method of delivering a Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme. This is a self-guided educational information book and audio CD of relaxation tracks/exercises. This tends to suit patients who are unable to get to a formal community based programme each week. This may be due to a number of personal issues such as lack of mobility or transport, being a carer for a member of their family who cannot be left on their own, work commitments or preference not to be in a group. The Heart Manual will be discussed at your Cardiac Event Follow Up clinic appointment and you will be facilitated onto the programme, by the nurse preparing the pack, explaining how to use it and establishing agreed targets and goals to reduce risk of a future cardiac event.
The nurse will then contact you with a telephone consultation at agreed time periods in order to support you through your recovery and assess whether targets need reviewing and new ones established.
The Heart Manual is also occasionally given to patients for an established time period prior to commencing a community based Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme.
Exercise trainers
Our exercise trainers have specific cardiac qualifications and are registered by a professional body accordingly. They lead on the exercise component of the Phase Three Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme, provided by the NHS. The exercise trainers also run numerous Phase Four follow-on classes in the same venues as the Phase Three rehabilitation classes but these are not attended by a Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist Nurse. The private Phase Four classes are offered for a small fee, payable per session attended.
General information
If you have recently had a heart attack, angioplasty/stent, or cardiac surgery, in the UK or abroad, and have not been contacted by a member of our Cardiac Rehabilitation Service within a week of discharge from hospital, please contact us for further information and advice on 01305 255707.
If you are awaiting surgery and have any questions about your procedure or post-operative recovery, please contact our team on 01305 255707.
If you are unable to make any appointments or sessions which have been booked with us, please contact our team on 01305 255707 so that we can offer a new appointment to suit your needs. This will ensure that our waiting times are minimised.
Contact details
Cardiac Rehabilitation Office
Diabetes Centre
Dorset County Hospital
50 Bridport Road
Dorchester
DT1 2NQ
Main office contact number: 01305 255707
Fax number: 01305 255115
Email: dch-ft.cardiacrehab@nhs.net