For patients

"The course helped me a lot to understand how we can help ourselves more" "I learned a lot and it gave me courage to actually get myself motivated to do more exercise" "I thoroughly enjoyed the class. You all make the exercises fun and easy to understand"

Prior to commencing a Pulmonary Rehabilitation course all participants are required to undergo an initial assessment to determine their suitability. The initial assessment and physical assessment will take place at the venue where you will be completing your course and will take approximately 1 hour to complete. The assessment will involve having your blood pressure and oxygen levels checked, completing simple strength tests and a shuttle walk test to assess your level of ability prior to commencing the course. You may bring a chaperone if you have a medical condition or language need that means you require additional assistance. Where applicable, please bring your oxygen, GTN spray, Epipen, reliever inhaler and walking aid and prescription to your physical assessment. If you are deemed suitable following you initial assessment, we expect you to start your Pulmonary Rehabilitation course within 4 weeks.

Following your initial assessment you will attend the venue twice a week for two hours for six weeks, as detailed above. The first hour will compromise of exercise, gradually increasing the intensity throughout the course tailored to your needs and abilities. This is then followed by by an education session : An introduction to pulmonary rehabilitation, importance of exercising, lung anatomy, types of lung condition, breathlessness and how to manage it, signs and symptoms of a chest infection, inhalers, anxiety and relaxation, nutrition, smoking, how does it affect me? and what to do after pulmonary rehabilitation.

Once you have finished your 6-week course you will undergo a final assessment. This involves repeating some of your initial tests to see your improvement. A discharge letter summarising your progress will then be sent to your referring clinician. Patients will be encouraged to continue with their exercises routine and/or will be signposted to local groups to assist them with this. They will also be given details of local support groups. Patients may take part in one Pulmonary Rehabilitation course per year.

In some circumstances there may be the opportunity to deliver pulmonary rehabilitation through other means either by a home programme or through a virtual online platform. The pulmonary rehabilitation team are open to discussing different options for patients however alternatives formats would be the exception as the vast majority of patients are seen in face to face classes. Should you have concerns about attending a face to face class please either discuss this with the person referring you or make your concerns clear on the self referral form.