Merton Cardiac Rehabilitation Team accredited as a national standard of care

We are delighted to announce that our Merton Cardiac Rehabilitation Team has achieved national accreditation as a Cardiac Rehabilitation Service for the first time since its establishment in 2017, through the National Certification Programme for Cardiac Rehabilitation (NCPCR).

This recognition builds on the findings of the recent NHS National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR), which highlighted the vital impact of high-quality, evidence-based rehabilitation in supporting patient recovery, improving long-term outcomes, and promoting overall heart health.

As part of the certification process, our cardiac rehabilitation services were assessed against seven published key performance indicators (KPIs) used across England and Northern Ireland where they successfully met the standards required for Green Certified Status. These KPIs set out clear standards covering areas such as:

• Comprising of three staff types as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Patient assessments and initiation of core priority groups
• Wait times
• Duration of the programme
• And delivery of personalised exercise and education

A huge factor in this achievement was the funding provided by NHS England, which enabled the recruitment of an additional Physiotherapist and a Specialist Cardiac Rehabilitation Technician. This support particularly helped improve data submission without compromising clinical appointment availability or wait times for intervention. Our Specialist Technician played a key role in clearing the backlog of data from the past year while also supporting clinicians with current-year data entry.

Meeting these KPIs demonstrates that the service consistently delivers safe, effective, and patient-centred care.

The team also recently received encouraging feedback from a service user, Tom (named changed to protect privacy), 67, who said: “Thank you for providing such a professional and supportive service. After completing the 8-week course, I feel more confident in adjusting to life after cardiac surgery. The staff were welcoming, encouraging, and made recovery both helpful and enjoyable. May this service continue so that others can find it just as helpful in their recovery.”

Since the launch of the service, the Merton Cardiac Rehabilitation Team has supported hundreds of patients in rebuilding confidence, improving strength, and lowering their risk of future cardiac events. Gaining national certification is a testament to the team’s professionalism, commitment, and dedication to delivering the highest standards of care.

Cardiac rehabilitation is guided by the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR), who regularly publish guidance on the standards and core components for cardiac rehabilitation services in the UK.

This recognition not only celebrates past achievements but also sets the foundation for future growth, ensuring that patients continue to receive the highest standard of cardiac rehabilitation within the community.

Sue Langley, Cardio-Respiratory Team Lead said: “The cardiac rehab team have worked tirelessly to provide an excellent service to the patients of Merton when they are at their most vulnerable, following life changing events. They have been innovative and proactive in their approach to ensure that all the required criteria are met to achieve accreditation status. This is a national recognition of the excellent work they are doing and reflects their dedication to providing services that we can all be proud of. Congratulations to them all for their continued efforts.”

This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and expertise of the entire team.

We would like to give special thanks to the team whose commitment to patient care and service excellence has been instrumental in reaching this milestone.

Daniel Lemon, Ese Umukoro and Maria Matthews - Clinical Nurse Specialists

Randy Scott and Lydano Dennie - Physiotherapists

David Overland and Alina Florea - Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist Technicians