Falls prevention physiotherapy at home in the City of London and the Barbican

Finding it harder to get out of the Barbican, or worried about falls on the way? A Chartered Physiotherapist, registered with the HCPC, visits older adults at home across the City of London. We work on stamina, balance and confidence to help you keep getting out from the home you love. Every programme starts with a falls risk assessment at home.

"I have visited so many people in the Barbican that I know its walkways like the back of my hand. Most of them have lived there for decades, love it, and want to stay independent there." Daniel Arias Ruiz, Chartered Physiotherapist

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Getting in and out of the Barbican

The Barbican is a wonderful place to live, but leaving it can be a long walk. From many flats it is a fair distance along the highwalks to reach the main road, the car park or the station, with steps all around the estate and ramps that get slippery when it rains. Many people who have lived here for years want to stay, and the thing that gets harder is the journey out. So with a physiotherapist who comes to your home, our work is building the stamina and confidence to do that walk, practising the exact route you use, including the stairs and slopes.

Where we visit in the City of London

We offer physiotherapy home visits across the Square Mile: the Barbican Estate, Golden Lane Estate, Middlesex Street and Smithfield, and the streets around St Paul's, Bank, Moorgate, Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, Aldgate, Blackfriars and Temple, plus nearby Clerkenwell, Shoreditch and Old Street. That covers the EC1, EC2, EC3 and EC4 postcodes, including EC2Y and EC1Y around the Barbican. There is no travel charge anywhere in London. Living across the border? See our page for Hackney.

Physiotherapy at your office

Still working in the City? If your office or chambers has a private room with space to move, we can see you there instead of at home, before work or in a lunch break. The programme is the same: strength, balance and walking, with practice on the routes you use every day, such as the station stairs, the escalators at Bank or the steps in an older office building.

Coming home from hospital

Many City residents come home from the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel or St Bartholomew's (Barts) in Smithfield and are then supported by NHS community teams. SteadyMotion is an independent private service, separate from the NHS, so we can work alongside your NHS care, while you wait for it, or after it ends. We help with walking aids, exercises to build strength and keep joints moving, balance, and managing safely around your home. Read more in our guide to home physiotherapy for older adults.

Getting out and about again

The goal is usually getting back to the places you enjoy: a walk along the highwalks and the Barbican lakeside, a concert, play, film or exhibition at the Barbican Centre, the Barbican Conservatory, a service or a visit to St Paul's Cathedral, the shops on Whitecross Street, Old Street or Moorgate, your GP, your office, or the bus and the trains from Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street or Blackfriars to see more of London and beyond. We build up your walking distance step by step on the routes you actually use.

What a programme can look like

These are examples, not real clients. Every programme is planned around the person and what they want to get back to.

Example: the walk to the main road. Starting point: someone who has lived in the Barbican for years and now stays in because the walk to the main road feels too far. What we work on: stamina and leg strength, then practising the route a section at a time, including the stairs and ramps, until the whole walk feels manageable. The goal: getting out to the main road and the shops again.

Example: back to chambers. Starting point: a barrister near Temple who had a fall and now finds the walk from Blackfriars station and the narrow stairs in old chambers buildings unsettling. What we work on: sessions in a meeting room at chambers before the working day, leg strength and balance, and practising the stairs and the route from the station. The goal: a full working week in chambers again.

Example: back to the Barbican Centre. Starting point: someone who loves the concerts, theatre and exhibitions at the Barbican Centre, or the Conservatory, but has stopped going because their balance, strength and stamina have dropped. What we work on: strength and balance, building up walking distance, choosing a walking aid if it helps, and practising the route there, including the stairs and slopes. The goal: getting back to the events and places they enjoy.

Example: the commute to Bank. Starting point: a solicitor working near Bank after a hip replacement, who is nervous about the escalators, the crowds and the walk from the station. What we work on: sessions at the office in a lunch break, walking speed and balance in busy places, and getting on and off escalators safely. The goal: commuting to the office with confidence.

Example: catching a train from Liverpool Street. Starting point: someone who used to travel across London and further afield, but now finds the walk to the bus stop and the busy station too much. What we work on: stamina and balance, the walk to the bus stop, getting on and off the bus, and moving safely through the station to the train. The goal: travelling by train again to visit people and places across London and the UK.

Other areas we visit

We also visit older adults at home in nearby Westminster, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Lambeth, and across the rest of London, with no travel charge.