Evidence Requirements

• Evidence of validated measurement of exercise capacity, breathlessness and health status at the start and end of a PR programme.
• Evidence of recommended validated walking tests used at the start and end of a PR programme (6MWT/ISWT/ESWT).
• Evidence of walking test SOP, including evidence that walking tests are conducted to national and international technical standards.
• Evidence of validated measurement of strength used at the start and end of a PR programme.
• Evidence of use of disease-specific quality of life questionnaires.

All nations

• Outcome data for all patients
• Evidence that outcome data for all patients are regularly scrutinised and effective action plans are in place to improve performance against local and national targets (where these exist).

England and Wales only

• Evidence of meeting national median for:
• % of COPD patients achieving satisfactory outcomes for exercise performance
• % of COPD patients achieving satisfactory clinical outcomes for health status, or
• evidence that outcome data are regularly scrutinised, and action plans are in place to improve performance against national targets.

Evidence Requirements

• Evidence of a comprehensive programme of education and learning in line with content set out in the BTS PR quality standards (topics to be covered are identified in the BTS EBG (Appendix H).
• Evidence that the learning/education programme has been developed by a multidisciplinary team.
• The learning material offered equates to at least 6 hours of learning.
• Evidence that the learning/education programme has been adapted for those with specific needs.
• Evidence that the learning material is available for participants to learn independently (written information/ videos/website).

Evidence Requirements

• Evidence of an annual audit of individual outcomes for each PR programme.
• Evidence of an annual audit of rates of commencement, adherence and completion.
• A documented annual audit plan for the service, including those of patient experience (patient survey) and staff satisfaction (staff survey), with clear timescales for audit completion and named leads.
• Contribution to the national PR audit programme (services in England and Wales only).
• A documented process for gaining consent and documenting dissent for the national audit (services in England and Wales only).
• Process document which describes how the service validates audit data and ensures there is correct and complete data entry.

Evidence Requirements

• Evidence of annual review of national guidance (team meeting minutes).
• Benchmarking of audit data to national thresholds (services in England and Wales only).

Evidence Requirements

• List of research activities, published articles, conference presentations or policies where relevant.

Guidance

• The service should review participation rates in research projects where relevant.