Barts and The London Heart and Chest Centre | Support services | Rehabilitation and physiotherapy
Rehabilitation and physiotherapy
Physiotherapy
After heart surgery or treatment, you will be supported by our team of physiotherapists who will visit you regularly and will develop an individualised plan to help you return to your normal life. They may encourage you to do deep breathing exercises and to exercise your arms and legs whilst you are in bed, or sitting in a chair, to improve your circulation. He/she will help you to start walking again, usually on the second day after your operation.
Rehabilitation
Cardiac Rehabilitation is integral to recovery. We offer several courses based around supervised exercise programmes that will give you confidence, get you fit and back to leading a normal life.
The Cardiac Rehabilitation won a Cardiac Journal of Nursing Award in 2007.
The team provides ongoing support to people who have had or are at risk of having a cardiac event.
We work across hospital, covering The London Chest, St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London hospitals. The team isavailable at every stage to give advice and information to aid recovery and help your lifestyle return to normal.
We aim to see all patients who have suffered a heart attack prior to discharge to give information about their procedure and recovery. We also attend the follow-up clinics to give lifestyle advice on reducing risk factors such as stopping smoking, diet and exercise. You can discuss any questions about your recovery at this time.
For local patients based in the Tower Hamlets area, our phase II coordinator is available to provide support in the immediate discharge period at home.
Patients are also invited to attend a cardiac rehabilitation programme. The courses are for local patients who have had chest pain, a heart attack and any other heart condition e.g. surgery or stents. They are designed to help you learn more about your heart and how to reduce the risk of future heart problems as well as providing emotional support.
The course is based at The London Chest Hospital, in Bethnal Green and involves education sessions, relaxation and physical exercise.
Bengali rehabilitation course
To reflect the cultural needs of our local community we have also developed an award winning and innovative course designed for Bengali patients with dedicated Health Advocates. This is based at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.
“We want to make sure that people feel supported when they leave hospital. Some women aren’t comfortable with the idea of going to a gym so we organise female-only sessions to help them feel more relaxed,” explains Judith Colley, Cardiac Rehabilitation Nurse, in reference to the Bengali programme.
We actively encourage a close friend or family member to attend at least one class to see how things are progressing and help build confidence.
If you do not live in Tower Hamlets, you will be referred to your local Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre by the Barts and The London Team after discharge.
Home-based rehabilitation
We are currently developing a service that will provide our patients cardiac rehabilitation in their own homes. More details about this will be available soon.
Meet the team
As well as specialist nurses, the Cardiac Rehabilitation Team includes other professionals such as physiotherapists, dietitians, pharmacists and a clinical psychologist.
The London Chest Hospital
Judith Colley – Lead Nurse
Mary Gilbride – Senior Sister
The Royal London Hospital
Paula Day - Senior Sister
Kelly Read – Senior Sister, Phase II Co-ordinator
Contact details
The London Chest Hospital 020 8983 2357
St Bartholomew's Hospital 020 346 57138
The Royal London Hospital (Bengali advocate) 020 7377 7344
Cardiac Rehabilitation Phase II Co-ordinator 020 7377 7320
These Cardiac rehabilitation phone lines are for advice and information for patients under gone heart surgery. This is managed by health advisors and is available Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm. Outside these hours you may leave a message on the answer phone. Messages are checked within these times and we aim to return calls by the next working day.
If you have a medical emergency, please contact your GP or dial 999.
For information about your local Cardiac Rehabilitation services please contact your nearest hospital or the British Heart Foundation for details.
