East Lancashire Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service - Information for Health Care Professionals

NICE (2006) states that all those with COPD who are suitable for pulmonary rehabilitation should receive it.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation is designed for patients who have a:

  • Diagnosis of a chronic lung disease (e.g COPD (stable), ILD, bronchiectasis) and feel they are functionally limited by their condition (MRC 2 and above).
  • Patients who have had a hospital admission for COPD (any MRC) (should be referred to commence Pulmonary Rehabilitation within one month of discharge).

Pulmonary rehabilitation has been shown to:

  • Significantly reduce mortality rates in patients with COPD (Cochrane, 2011).
  • Reduce readmission rates following a hospitalised COPD exacerbation – from 33% to 7% (Seymour et al, 2009).
  • An effective long-term intervention that decreases length of hospital stay for patients with COPD (Griffiths et al, 2000).
  • Improve the health status of patients with COPD (Golmohammadi et al, 2004)

The East Lancashire Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programme:

An initial assessment takes place at St Peters Centre, in Burnley, by a physiotherapist. The programme runs for 6 weeks with classes run twice weekly, at various locations across East Lancashire.  

Classes are held at the following venues:

  • Pendle Community Hospital
  • Burnley General Hospital
  • Clitheroe Community Hospital
  • Rossendale Primary Care Centre and
  • Springhill Community Centre, Accrington

(links to maps and directions to these venues can be found on the patient section of the ELHT website) . Each session includes supervised exercise, education and group discussions.

The exercise component is tailored to each patient’s physical ability. All the exercises are aimed at improving stamina and strength, whilst education is provided around managing breathlessness. The educational component focuses on the management of the COPD conditions. Inhaler technique and smoking cessation are also addressed within the sessions.

Referral Criteria for Pulmonary Rehabilitation?

  • Patients must be cardiovascular stable
  • Not have any medical problem that severely restricts exercise.
  • No recent eye or abdominal surgery (within the last three months).

Referral Process:

You can refer to pulmonary rehabilitation by downloading the Referral Form on this page. We would be very grateful if you could attach a GP summary or up-to-date copy of the patient’s prescription (if available):

Post to:

Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service,

Integrated Respiratory Team,

Level 2

St Peter’s Health Centre

Church Street

Burnley

BB11 2DL

or Fax to:  01282 457434

Patients can self-refer into the service by contacting the pulmonary rehabilitation team on 01282 805514

If you have any further queries or if you would like to discuss a referral please do not hesitate to contact us on 01282 805514.

A PDF and word version of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation patient information leaflet is attached to the other documents section of this page.

Please Note.

  • Repeat pulmonary rehabilitation will be offered to patients who have completed the programme more than one year previously. It will only be offered to patient earlier if they have an accelerated physiological or functional decline.
  • A separate Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service exists for patients who live in the Blackburn with Darwen area. They can be contacted on 01254 584536.

References

  •  Griffiths TL, Burr ML, Campbell IA, Lewis-Jenkins V, Shiels K et al. Results at 1 year of outpatient multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2000; 355(9201):362-368
  • Golmohammadi K, Jacobs P, Sin DD. Economic evaluation of a community-based pulmonary rehabilitation program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lung 2004; 182(3): 187-96
  • National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Pulmonary Rehabilitation Service for patients with COPD.London: National Institute for Clinical Excellence; 2006 URL: nice.org.uk/media/63F/4D/PulmonaryRehabCommissioningGuide.pdf
  • Seymour JM, Moore L, Jolley CJ, Ward K, Creasey J, Steier JS et al. Outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation following acute exacerbations of COPD. Thorax 2010; 65(5):423-428