The National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR)
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the most common cause of premature deaths in the UK with 22 per cent of deaths in men and 13 per cent in women. Treatment for CHD includes secondary prevention, revascularisation and cardiac rehabilitation.
Cardiac rehabilitation is an inexpensive treatment that saves lives. In the UK, 60 per cent of heart patients who need it do not have access to it.
About the Audit
The NHS National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease (NSF CHD) states that 80 per cent of people who have bypass surgery or heart attacks, should be receiving cardiac rehabilitation. Previous surveys of the provision of cardiac rehabilitation in the UK have shown that patients attending these programmes tend to be male, middle aged, and diagnosed with uncomplicated myocardial infarction (MI).
Little is known of the current UK provision of cardiac rehabilitation or adherence to such programmes in those from traditionally under-represented groups. These groups include elderly people, women, people from ethnic minorities, and those with angina or heart failure, some of whom may benefit more than the patients currently using these services.
This national audit is designed to improve cardiac rehabilitation services which are known to dramatically reduce cardiac mortality and morbidity both at local and national levels.
