Falls prevention physiotherapy at home in Hammersmith and Fulham

Worried about falls, or finding the river path, the market or the walk to the tube harder than it used to be? A Chartered Physiotherapist, registered with the HCPC, visits older adults at home across Hammersmith and Fulham, from Shepherd's Bush and White City to Parsons Green and Sands End. We work on strength, balance and stamina to help you get back to the things you enjoy locally: a show at the Lyric, a walk along the Thames from Bishops Park, a morning on North End Road or a match day at Craven Cottage. Every programme starts with a falls risk assessment at home.

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Homes in Hammersmith and Fulham

Much of Hammersmith and Fulham is made up of long streets of Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses, especially in Fulham, Parsons Green and Brook Green. Many have a few steps up to the front door, a narrow hallway and a steep staircase, and plenty have been divided into upstairs and downstairs flats. Further north, around White City and Shepherd's Bush, there are large council estates with low rise blocks and tower blocks, where long corridors, lifts and outside walkways are part of every trip. Newer riverside flats at Imperial Wharf and along the Hammersmith waterfront tend to have lifts but long walks from the front door to the street. Every visit starts with how you get around your own home and building, and we practise the stairs, front steps and garden steps you actually use, at a pace that is safe for you. A physiotherapist who comes to your home sees the real staircase, not a gym version of it.

Where we visit in Hammersmith and Fulham

We offer physiotherapy home visits across the borough, including Hammersmith, Ravenscourt Park, Brackenbury Village, Brook Green, Shepherd's Bush, White City, East Acton, College Park, West Kensington, Fulham, Walham Green, Parsons Green, Sands End and the riverside near Hammersmith Bridge. That covers postcodes W6, W12, W14 and SW6, and parts of W3, W4, W10, W11, NW10 and SW10. There is no travel charge anywhere in London.

Coming home from hospital

Many Hammersmith and Fulham residents are treated at Charing Cross Hospital on Fulham Palace Road, at Hammersmith Hospital on Du Cane Road or at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, just over the border on the Fulham Road, 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. After a fall, a broken hip, or a hip or knee replacement, we work on your walking aid, strength, balance and the stairs at home. Read more in our guide to home physiotherapy for older adults.

Getting out and about again

The river is a big part of life in Hammersmith and Fulham. The Thames path runs from Craven Cottage up towards Hammersmith Bridge, past Furnival Gardens, and Bishops Park and the gardens of Fulham Palace are a gentle place to start. Inland there is Ravenscourt Park, Brook Green, Eel Brook Common, South Park, Hurlingham Park and the wide open space of Wormwood Scrubs. For shopping, North End Road market runs Monday to Saturday, Shepherd's Bush Market sits under the railway arches, and Westfield London is a long walk that many people want to manage again. Others go to the Lyric Hammersmith or the Polish centre POSK, borrow books at Fulham, Hammersmith or Shepherds Bush libraries, or swim and exercise at the Phoenix Fitness Centre or Lillie Road Fitness Centre.

Hammersmith and Fulham is mostly flat, which helps, but the roads are busy. Hammersmith Broadway, its bus station and the crossings on Fulham Palace Road and the A4 can feel daunting after a fall. Stations such as Hammersmith, Fulham Broadway, Putney Bridge and Shepherd's Bush bring their own stairs and crowds. We practise crossing at a steady pace, getting on and off the bus, and the walk to the station, 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 river walk to Hammersmith. Starting point: someone who walked the Thames path most days but stopped after a fall on uneven paving, and now stays indoors. What we work on: leg strength, balance on changing surfaces, and stamina, building up from Bishops Park towards Hammersmith Bridge. The goal: the full riverside walk again, at their own pace.

Example: shopping on North End Road. Starting point: someone who has had a knee replacement and finds carrying bags past busy stalls tiring and unsettling. What we work on: walking with a trolley or stick, standing tolerance, turning in a crowd and stepping up and down kerbs. The goal: the weekly shop at the market without needing a lift.

Example: the lift and corridors in a White City block. Starting point: someone who is generally unsteady and avoids going out because the walk from the flat to the lift and down to the street feels too long. What we work on: walking distance, balance when doors open and close, and practising the full route from front door to bus stop. The goal: getting out to the shops on their own most days.

Example: a terraced house with steep stairs. Starting point: someone home after a broken hip who is sleeping downstairs because the staircase in their Fulham terrace feels too steep. What we work on: strength, a safe technique with the handrail, and practising the real stairs a few steps at a time. The goal: sleeping in their own bedroom again.

Other areas we visit

We also visit older adults at home in nearby Brent, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Richmond upon Thames, Hounslow and Ealing, and across the rest of London, with no travel charge.