National Certification Programme
The National Certification Programme for Cardiac Rehabilitation (NCP_CR) is a joint project between the BACPR and NACR. Since 2018, certification standards for all programmes in England, Northern Ireland and Wales have been reported in an annual NCP_CR report, and as part of the NACR Annual Quality and Outcomes Report
National Certification Programme for Cardiac Rehabilitation (NCP_CR)
For the current list of certified sites please click here
What does “minimum standard” mean?
The updated BACPR Standards & Core Components were published in 2023 and represent agreed national minimum standards for the delivery of CR in the UK. Over the past few years, there has been a growing emphasis on quality assurance of services across the NHS. However, through NACR data analyses and published research it’s clear that while a good proportion of cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation programmes in the UK meet quality standards others are at less than optimal levels of service delivery.
The NCP_CR Steering Group strives to make the certification process easy to access, attainable and ensure the process is equitable. Before any programme can be assessed against NCP_CR Key Performance Indicators they must be entering data into the National Audit for Cardiac Rehabilitation (NACR).
The KPIs (below) are based on NCP_CR agreed standards that are informed by the BACPR Standards and Core Components (2023). Certification is achieved through meeting all 7 KPIs:
There are 3 Minimum Standards (KPIs 1-3) and 4 Standards based on national averages (KPIs 4-7)
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
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At least three health professions in the CR team who formally and regularly support the CR programme.
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Cardiovascular rehabilitation is offered to all these priority groups: MI, MI+PCI, PCI, CABG, Heart Failure.
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Duration of Core CR programme: ≥ national median of 56 days.
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Percent of patients with recorded assessment 1: ≥ England 80%; Northern Ireland 88%; Wales 68%.
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Time from post-discharge referral to start of Core CR programme for CABG: ≤ national median of England 46 days, Northern Ireland 52 days, Wales 42 days.
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Time from post-discharge referral to start of Core CR programme for MI/PCI: ≤ national median of England 33 days, Northern Ireland 40 days, Wales 26 days.
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Percent of patients with recorded assessment 2 (end of CR): ≥ England 57%, Northern Ireland 61%, Wales 43%.
*Information on staffing profile and MDT is taken from the NACR Staffing Survey sent out by email each year to programme primary contacts. The information for this KPI is not collected on the NACR database. In order for certification to be validated each CR team must complete and submit the online NACR Staffing Survey.
The current NCP_CR Certification Supplement and Report give details of programmes’ status.
Green: Meeting all 7 minimum standards (‘certified’)
Amber: Meeting 4-6 minimum standards
Red: Meeting 1-3 minimum standards
Fail: Meeting 0 standards / not entering data on NACR
NCP_CR quality appraisal is an annual process meaning that each year there will be an updated version of the supplement showing the extent to which programmes meet the KPIs and their certification status. All current certification will finish on publication of the next year’s NCP_CR Report, at which point all sites will be informed of their new status. For the current list of certified sites please click here
If you have any queries regarding your programme’s NACR data, please contact Nerina Onion nerina.onion@nhs.net
Certification Annual Reports
Click here to view annual certification reports.
Quarterly Reports
Click here to view quarterly reports.