An audit of phase II cardiac rehabilitation at Auckland hospital

Aim. To audit Phase II cardiac rehabilitation services available to patients admitted to Auckland Hospital in order to assess patient uptake and to identify problems with patient recruitment to the service. Methods, We performed a retrospective review from 1/8/97 to 30/9/97 of all patients admitted to the coronary care/cardiology departments in Auckland Hospital. Results. There were 289 patient admissions in this two month period, of which 22 (8%) were readmissions. 154 (54%) were admissions with provisional diagnoses of chest pain, of whom eight were readmissions. A total of 113 (39%) patients were felt to be suitable for the rehabilitation programme, of whom 50 (44%) attended one or more sessions and 22 (19%) completed the six week programme. 63 (56%) of the eligible patients did not attend any session. Reasons for non-attendance included the distance to be travelled, availability of transport and problems associated with taking time off work. A major finding of the audit was that the systems currently in place to follow patients are inadequate to allow formal audit and evaluation of the rehabilitation service. Conclusions. Although a reasonable rehabilitation service exists for Auckland Hospital patients, less than half of suitable patients attend a single session. There is a need for better collection and recording of patient data in order to facilitate the development of evaluation and audit tools.