Working in collaboration with the National Audit for Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR), our Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) research project began with the production of a mathematical model exploring the population health and NHS cost implications of CR given the effectiveness demonstrated in the latest systematic review of trial evidence.
We concluded that CR was cost-effective, with the potential to save 20,000 lives and 50,000 hospital admissions over a 10-year period if uptake was increased to the 85% target.
This research project has had significant impact both academically and politically, resulting in three publications to date – an Innovate UK research project (£497,000), referenced as the justification for increasing uptake in England in both the British Heart Foundation’s Turning Back the Tide Framework and the NHS Long Term Plan, as well as informing one of the University of York REF2021 submissions.
