No, you can book directly. A referral does help with funding: your GP can refer you under a chronic condition management plan, which may cover part of the cost for a set number of allied health services each calendar year. DVA and NDIS referrals follow their own pathways. Bringing your hospital discharge summary and cardiologist’s letter is useful either way, because it tells your exercise physiologist what your heart has been through.

Programs commonly run as one or two supervised sessions a week over a block of weeks, followed by a maintenance phase where you manage yourself with periodic reviews. The length depends on your heart function and your goals. Some people move to independent exercise quickly. Others with heart failure or reduced exercise tolerance benefit from longer supervision, and that is reassessed as you progress.

Yes, and that is planned for rather than avoided. Beta blockers slow your heart rate, so heart rate alone becomes an unreliable guide to how hard you are working. Your exercise physiologist uses rated effort and breathing as well. Some blood pressure medications can make you light-headed when you stand quickly, so warm-ups and cool-downs are structured accordingly. Never change a dose to exercise.

Yes. Hospital programs are short by design and finish while you are still early in your recovery. Gains in fitness fade if training stops. A community program continues the progression, adds resistance training that hospital programs often cannot fit in, and gives you a written plan for the long term.

Yes, and it often helps. A partner who understands your target intensity, your warning signs and your home program is more likely to support the plan than worry about it. They are also welcome in dietetics appointments, which makes sense when they do most of the cooking. Let reception know when you book so the appointment is scheduled with enough room.

Wear enclosed shoes and clothing you can move in, and bring water. Bring your medication list, your discharge summary, any recent blood results and your home blood pressure readings if you take them. If you use a glucose monitor or an angina spray, bring those too. Eat something light beforehand rather than exercising on an empty stomach.