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OVER TWO-THIRDS OF HEART ATTACK SURVIVORS IN NORTHERN IRELAND MISS OUT ON LIFE-SAVING SERVICE
Monday 24 August 2009
Sixty-nine per cent of heart attack patients in Northern Ireland failed to receive a life-saving service, according to a report released by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Northern Ireland today.
The 2009 National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR) (1) found that only 31% of 3,747 heart attack sufferers took part in a cardiac rehabilitation programme in Northern Ireland. This compared to 34% of a total of 83,540 heart attack sufferers in the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Just 17% of those who underwent an angioplasty procedure and 72% of those who had coronary artery bypass operations in Northern Ireland received the essential service.
Overall, the audit, which covered England, Wales and Northern Ireland, found that only 38% of heart patients attended cardiac rehabilitation (2).
Cardiac rehabilitation gives heart attack patients a 26% greater chance of surviving in the five years following their diagnosis by providing them with the vital skills to manage their condition and significantly improves their quality of life (3).
The NACR, commissioned by the BHF, also found that women were significantly underrepresented in the programme. While women made up 37% of heart attack survivors, only 28% of patients that took part in cardiac rehabilitation were women.
In recognition of the serious gap in support for people living with heart disease in Northern Ireland, BHF Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke have come together to campaign on this essential service. The campaign will be launched in autumn 2009.
Both charities aim to work together to ensure that cardiac rehabilitation is fully recognised as being central to the treatment and care of heart patients and to aim for every heart patient to be offered access to a high quality cardiac rehabilitation programme as soon as possible.
The recently published Northern Ireland Cardiovascular Health & Well-being Service Framework identifies cardiac rehabilitation as an important part of care and states the need for all patients identified as requiring cardiac rehabilitation should be offered this service. This report indicates there is an urgent need for targets to be set and significant investment in cardiac rehabilitation services to be made as quickly as possible.
Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director at the BHF, was disappointed with the results.
"The number of heart patients taking part in cardiac rehabilitation hasn't increased at all since the last report. The audit shows that progress on making this life-saving service available to patients is flat-lining."
"Recovery from a heart attack isn't over when a patient leaves hospital and heart patients should be receiving the ongoing support they need. Referral to cardiac rehabilitation should be a routine part of treating heart patients, and until this happens they will continue to miss out."
In addition, the report did not find a single cardiac rehabilitation programme which met minimum staffing requirements (4). Only 1% of programmes meet the staffing guideline for pharmacy, 8% met the guideline for dieticians and 9% for psychological support.
Speaking on the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation, local heart patient Andrew Campbell said "I live alone, so I don't have any other source of ongoing support. Cardiac rehabilitation was invaluable to me. It picked me up and put me back on my feet."
"When you have an ongoing heart condition it's like being a kid again. You need to learn your physical boundaries and it's scary to try and do things on your own when you're not sure what you're capable of. It's hard to know where to draw the line."
"The nurses in my cardiac rehab programme were invaluable, they told me when I was pushing myself too hard, which I guess as a bloke I was doing a bit too often. The also provided excellent emotional support. It can be a scary time and it made all the difference knowing I could rely on them."
Cardiac rehabilitation involves nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians, psychologists and occupational therapists who work with their patients both one-to-one and in groups.
At the end of the programme, patients are able to understand their condition, have greater confidence and are able to regain a high quality of life again (5).
