Innovative treatment for heart patients leads to better outcomes
A cardiac rehabilitation initiative at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is saving lives by providing innovative and preventative care within the community.
Patients who’ve had surgery following a heart attack are invited onto a 10-week exercise course aimed at helping them turn to a healthier lifestyle. It is run by a team of healthcare experts from Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.
If further intervention is needed, the patient is discussed by the team on a weekly basis and changes are made to further improve their condition or evaluate related risks such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Leading the initiative, Consultant Cardiologist Professor Derek Connolly said: “In Sandwell and West Birmingham, we’ve got three times the amount of cardiovascular death under the age of 70 compared to someone in the leafy part of southeast England. It is by far our biggest killer – much bigger than cancer in our area.”
Patients are referred to the cardiac rehabilitation programme by specialist nurses who have identified them as needing support.
Sessions take place at community sites, including at the Trust’s City Health Campus (formerly City Hospital) and Sandwell Health Campus (formerly Sandwell Hospital). Around 1,000 referrals are received annually.
Explaining the process, Christos Lykidis, Exercise Physiologist at the Trust, said: “Patients referred could have had a stent fitted in their heart’s arteries or a bypass operation following a heart attack.
“They’re invited to a 10-week exercise-centred programme aimed at helping people return to a normal yet healthier life after their hospital treatment while reducing the risk of bad outcomes.”
Patients on the programme are taken through a comprehensive lifestyle and clinical assessment that includes setting a personal goal. “Throughout the programme, patient risk factors and symptoms are monitored by cardiac nurse specialists,” Christos added.
Professor Connolly added that it is an approach that is not only effective in reducing death and readmission but is also cost saving.
“When you bring the bad cholesterol down early, you reduce major adverse cardiovascular events – that’s death, heart attacks and strokes. We’re now applying this same approach to diabetes and blood pressure management,” he said.
Recent research published by Grace Dibben and others (by Cochrane Library) highlights the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation programmes, showing a 13 per cent reduction in death from any cause, a 28 per cent reduction in subsequent heart attacks, and a 42 per cent reduction in all-cause re-hospitalisations.
“We strongly believe that the outcomes for patients who attend our cardiac rehabilitation programme are even greater, as their treatments and risk factors are optimised according to the latest recommendations and cutting-edge research,” Christos added.
The success of this innovative approach has gained national attention, with the Trust presenting their findings at the Annual Conference of the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation in October 2024. It is also being replicated internationally, with similar results reported in Sweden and Poland showing approximately 20 per cent reduction in admissions for heart attacks and strokes.
