Chronic Disease Community Rehabilitation Service – Pulmonary and Heart Failure

The Chronic Disease Community Rehabilitation Service (CDCRS) provides rehabilitation services to people residing in NSLHD who have a chronic respiratory disease and/or chronic heart failure.

The CDCRS multi-disciplinary team includes: a respiratory specialist, physiotherapists, clinical nurse specialists, clinical psychologists, an occupational therapist and a dietitian.

The service includes exercise rehabilitation, sputum clearance, smoking cessation, psychological management, review of lung function, medication review, nutritional management, home modifications/aids and disease-specific education. Interventions are tailored to each patient’s individual needs.

Pulmonary and chronic heart failure exercise rehabilitation programs are provided in Northern Sydney Local Health District hospital outpatient and community-based venues located at: Royal North Shore, Brookvale, Mona Vale, Hornsby and Ryde. The CDCRS also provides telehealth programs.

• Closed in walking shoes
• Comfortable loose clothing
• Relevant medications
• A water bottle
• An outline of your medical history, or a copy of My Health Record
• Relevant test result
• List of current medications and drug allergies
• Your referral letter from your GP/Specialist

Your GP or non-GP specialist is always your first step in seeking treatment for any condition. If you or your treating clinician believe you would benefit from our multidisciplinary rehabilitation program you may be referred to our service.

To ensure that our resources are directed towards those in most need we have a selection criteria to determine what problems can be seen in our clinic. The below information is mainly for GPs and other referring clinicians. 

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of chronic respiratory disease and/or chronic heart failure are eligible for this service.
• Patients need to be fit enough to be able to access this service and must not have symptomatic cardiac disease, where exercise would be unsafe.

Exclusion Criteria:

• No significant musculoskeletal, neurological or cognitive impairment that would preclude the ability to participate in group-based exercise or significant mobility or falls issues.

Providing more information will aid the triage process and make it more likely that your patient will be seen in the most timely manner possible 

Please submit referrals using the eReferral system through HealthLink, which can be accessed through most clinical software systems 

Alternatively, referrals can be made through the Northern Sydney Local Health District Health Contact Centre on 1300 732 503 (Monday to Friday, 7:30am-6:30pm).

Patients can self-refer, or they can be referred to the service by their doctor or other health professional. 

Find a cardiac rehabilitation service near you | Heart Foundation

Cardiac Rehabilitation - St Vincent's Hospital Sydney (svhs.org.au)

Hospitals and Services - Cardiac Rehab - Royal North Shore Hospital (nsw.gov.au)