Cardiac Rehab Exercise Professional

This Exercise Professional post sits within the Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, working alongside a multidisciplinary team. The work centres on assessing patients' functional capacity and mobility, then running individual and group exercise sessions and lifestyle education, adapted for people with co-morbidities. The post holds its own caseload under Band 6 supervision and covers the service when senior staff are absent, with travel between hospital sites expected. HCPC registration is required.

What the job involves

• Deliver and develop cardiac rehabilitation exercise programmes, including high-intensity circuit cardio and chair-based low-intensity functional exercise, across varied settings
• Deliver safe group exercise sessions for patients with a range of cardiovascular conditions, to BACPR and ACPICR standards
• Risk stratify patients using clinical reasoning and evidence, and deliver individual and group exercise programmes and recommendations
• Hold a caseload within a defined area of cardiac rehabilitation, applying clinical governance and clinical risk management
• Assess functional capacity and mobility, including functional testing before and after rehabilitation, and interpret results to prescribe exercise
• Co-ordinate the cardiac rehabilitation service in the absence of the Band 6 Exercise Professional and team leaders, and undertake other duties as needed
• Assess the health-related needs of patients, carers and families, advise on CHD lifestyle modification, and refer to other services as needed
• Teach safe warm-up, cool-down and exercise technique, monitor safety during sessions, and review progress at the start, interim and end of programmes
• Encourage goal-orientated exercise and behaviour change, adjusting communication style and involving relatives and carers
• Work with MDT, primary and secondary care colleagues on complex cases, write reports and letters, and help induct new staff, students and MDT members
• Undertake local and national audit, and research and evaluate the effectiveness of exercise and the programme
• Manage medical emergencies in collaboration with colleagues, and take responsibility for own continuing professional development

Qualifications

• MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology, or BSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology or Physiotherapy

Registration & licences

• HCPC registration

Experience

• Working with patients with cardiac disease
• Delivering exercise to a complex patient group
• Previous exercise teaching experience
• Adapting exercise for people with co-morbidities
• Recognising the boundaries of own responsibilities

Skills & knowledge

• Knowledge of national and local strategies for cardiac rehabilitation
• Knowledge of BACPR and ACPICR standards
• Knowledge of exercise, functional testing and prescription guidelines
• Exercise physiology and the impact of varied clinical pathologies
• Understanding of the causes, process and risk factors of cardiac disease
• Ability to assess clinical information and structure patient care accordingly

Other

• Managing potentially difficult situations
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with good verbal and written skills
• Working as part of a multidisciplinary team

Nice to have

• Intermediate Life Support
• Working in a hospital setting in a multidisciplinary team, with understanding of other cardiac rehab roles
• Motivational interviewing and change management
• Health promotion experience
• Functional capacity testing
• Clinical audit, data collection and analysis, research, and evaluating cardiac rehab outcomes, including clinical governance principles
• Delivering educational talks and leading group and individual exercise programmes
• Computer literacy in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and video conferencing platforms

What's offered

• Access to a programme of high-quality training and development
• Trust commitment to staff health and wellbeing

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