Pulmonary rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a programme of exercise and education for people with chronic lung conditions (e.g. COPD, Asthma, bronchiectasis, ILD.) It is designed to help people with limiting symptoms caused by chronic lung disease to manage their condition better.

Each programme is individually tailored to meet the needs of each person. The exercises are tailored to individual ability levels and increase muscle strength and fitness levels over the duration of the course. The classes are delivered in groups of up to 16 people per session.

A course of PR lasts 6 weeks with 2 sessions of about 2 hours each week and is delivered in 3 different venues across Croydon:

Purley Christ Church Hall - Purley Christ Church Hall, 861 Brighton Road, CR8 2BN   (Tuesday and Thursday pm)

Croydon University Hospital - 730 London Road, Croydon, CR7 7YE (Tuesday am and Friday pm)

St Mildreds Church, 30 Bingham Road, CR0 7EB (Monday pm and Friday am)

The service is run by a dedicated team of respiratory specialist physiotherapists and exercise instructors.  We are also part of the wider Croydon Respiratory Team (CRT) which is made up of specialist respiratory practitioners (nurses and physiotherapists) and assistant practitioners.

Our mission is to empower patients to live their best life while managing their lung condition.

While pulmonary rehabilitation won’t cure your lung condition, it can help you do more in your day to day life. Some of the benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation have been shown to be:

• Reduced breathlessness on daily activities
• Increased general health and fitness level
• Increased muscle strength
• Increased walking distance
• Increased control of symptoms
• Reduction in hospital admissions
• Better understanding of your lug condition
• Increased confidence and quality of life

People referred for PR need to meet the following criteria:

• Be registered with a Croydon GP and live in Croydon
• Have a confirmed chronic lung condition (e.g. COPD, Asthma, Bronchiectasis, ILD)
• Be limited by their breathlessness in day-to-day activities
• Be safely independently mobile
• Be able and willing to attend the sessions twice a week for 6 weeks
• Be on optimal medical management

The service is not suitable for people who are:

• Unable to walk more than 10m independently (with or without a walking aid)
• Unable to follow simple commands in a group environment
• Known to have uncontrolled cardiac arrythmias
• Known to have unstable cardiovascular disease
• Known to have had a recent heart attack
• Known to have severe locomotor disease preventing exercise at a moderate level

Referrers can contact the team for further information or to discuss a referral

At the end of the six weeks, graduates are helped to plan exercise in their daily lifelong term and are provided with a Home Exercise Programme.

Referral

After you have been referred to the service you will receive a leaflet explaining what to expect from PR. This is an opportunity to check that you are motivated and able to attend. If you don’t think PR is for you please do give us a call to discuss this.

Initial assessment

If you are keen to attend, you will be booked an initial assessment which occurs over the phone. The aim of this conversation is to discuss your respiratory condition, your general health and your activity levels. We will then be able to understand your health better in order to tailor the sessions so you can get the most out of the course. There will be a few occasions when we will need to discuss whether PR is suitable for you. If this is the case we will offer you alternative options such as attending a structured education programme.

Face to face assessment

Once we have completed the initial phone assessment, we will arrange a face to face assessment at your chosen site. We will look at your current level of physical ability: we will take your blood pressure, measure your leg strength and ask you to complete walking tests to assess your oxygen levels and exercise capacity on exertion. This will also help the team to tailor their exercise prescription to meet your needs in a safe way.

The course itself

During the course, you will spend half the time exercising and the other half is set aside for self-management education talks. While exercising, getting out of breath is an important part of the therapy. There will 2 members of the PR team will be there throughout the session to support you and to adjust the exercises to be at a safe level for you.

Education

Following the exercise session, there will be talks provided by professionals involved in your care so you can learn about topics related to managing your lung condition. Participants will be provided with their own education booklet to keep.

We accept self-referrals from people who have previously completed the programme, at least 12 months ago. Patients should contact the service to make a self-referral. The request will be triaged by a clinician to identify whether pulmonary rehab is currently appropriate.

All new patients will need to be referred to PR by a healthcare professional involved in your care.

They will need to email the generic CRT referral form found on DXS to ch-tr.crt@nhs.net 

Hospital transport is available for patients who require it to the PR programme run at Croydon University Hospital on Tues am and Fri pm. Once you have had an appointment booked with the PR service, you will need to contact the transport service yourself to book a trip (phone number 020 8401 3165 or 020 8401 3051)

Pulmonary rehabilitation programme is a structured program designed to be delivered in a clinic setting to achieve its benefits of improving breathlessness and quality of life.

Our service does not offer a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation programme. We aim to determine suitable alternatives to support their rehabilitation goals.

Your voice matters

We continuously gather feedback from our patients through surveys, focus groups, and direct comments. Your insights are essential, and this website was developed with your valuable input.

Patient testimonials

I feel fitter and more confident...thanks to all the team for their support and help

I was able to breath better and exercise longer

The team were great so caring I loved the whole experience

You were encouraged to try different exercises tailored to you

Your feedback helps us continually refine our service, ensuring that we provide a caring, effective, and patient-centred experience. Thank you for being part of our journey and for helping us improve every day.

Catherine Smallwood / Kim Nottingham (Respiratory Physiotherapists & PR Team Leaders)

Tel: 020 8274 6495

Email: ch-tr.croydonpr@nhs.net