Cardiac rehabilitation service provision in Ireland: the Irish Associationof Cardiac Rehabilitation survey

Background The first national survey of cardiac rehabilitation services was conducted. Aims To establish levels of service provision, service formats, and geograp hic distribution of cardiac rehabilitation services in 1998. Methods Public hospitals in the Republic (n=41) and Northern Ireland (n=12) which provide services to cardiac patients were surveyed. Results Response rate was 81 %. Twelve centres (29%) in the Republic and ni ne (75%) in Northern Ireland provided cardiac rehabilitation. There was wid e geographic variability in service provision. Most centres were unable to identify the proportion of eligible patient participation. Most programmes were established for less than five years. All programmes had multidiscipli nary teams, multicomponent courses and co-ordinators. Additionally, 44% of hospitals without programmes had plans regarding programme establishment. Conclusions The findings highlight the underdeveloped but rapidly expanding nature of cardiac rehabilitation services in Ireland. They provide a basel ine from which to address rehabilitation needs and to judge the success of the National Cardiovascular Health Strategy in addressing these needs.