Falls prevention physiotherapy at home in Harrow

Worried about falls, or finding the climb up Harrow on the Hill, a walk on Stanmore Common or a trip into town harder than it used to be? A Chartered Physiotherapist, registered with the HCPC, visits older adults at home across Harrow, from Pinner and Hatch End to Stanmore and Kenton. This is home physiotherapy for older adults that fits around your week: the shops on St Ann's Road, a coffee in Pinner, a walk in Canons Park, time with the grandchildren. We work on strength, balance and stamina to help you keep doing those things. Every programme starts with a falls risk assessment at home.

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Homes in Harrow

Much of Harrow was built in the Edwardian years and between the wars, when the Metropolitan line brought new suburbs. Rayners Lane, North Harrow, Pinner and Kenton have long streets of 1930s semis and detached houses, usually with a step or two at the front door, a fairly steep staircase with a turn at the top, and a back garden with a step down from the patio. Around the old village on Harrow on the Hill and in South Harrow there are older terraces stepping down steep lanes. There are also bungalows, retirement flats, and council estates such as Grange Farm in South Harrow, now being rebuilt, as well as newer flats near Harrow and Wealdstone stations. Every visit starts with how you get around your own home and building. As a physiotherapist who comes to your home, we practise the stairs, front steps and patio steps you actually use, at a pace that is safe for you.

Where we visit in Harrow

We offer physiotherapy home visits across the borough, including Harrow on the Hill, Greenhill, West Harrow, North Harrow, South Harrow, Rayners Lane, Roxeth, Headstone, Pinner, Hatch End, Wealdstone, Harrow Weald, Stanmore, Canons Park, Belmont, Kenton and Queensbury. That covers postcodes HA1, HA2, HA3, HA5 and HA7, and parts of HA8. There is no travel charge anywhere in London.

Coming home from hospital

Many Harrow residents are treated at Northwick Park Hospital, which is in the borough, or at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital on Brockley Hill in Stanmore, 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

Harrow is a hilly borough, and that shapes many everyday walks. The streets up to St Mary's Church on Harrow on the Hill are steep, and Stanmore Hill and Harrow Weald rise towards the open woods and heath of Stanmore Common, Bentley Priory and Harrow Weald Common. For flatter walks there are Canons Park, Pinner Memorial Park with its pond, and the grounds of Headstone Manor, where the museum makes a good destination. Shopping trips might mean St Ann's Road and Station Road in Harrow town centre, the village high street in Pinner, or the shops in Wealdstone and Rayners Lane. Libraries such as Pinner, Stanmore, Kenton and Wealdstone run groups and events, Harrow Leisure Centre in Wealdstone has pools and a gym, and Harrow Arts Centre in Hatch End hosts shows and classes. Getting about usually means the Metropolitan line through Harrow on the Hill, Pinner and Rayners Lane, the Jubilee line to Stanmore, the Bakerloo line and Overground at Harrow and Wealdstone, the Piccadilly line at South Harrow, or buses into the town centre. Some stations have long staircases and a walk up or down a hill. We practise these routes to help you feel steady on slopes, steps and buses, 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: up the hill to St Mary's. Starting point: someone who used to walk up Harrow on the Hill to St Mary's Church but now finds the slope too much since a fall. What we work on: leg strength, stamina and pacing for hills, plus balance on cobbles and uneven paths. The goal: the walk up the hill again.

Example: home from Stanmore after a hip replacement. Starting point: someone back from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital after a hip replacement, living in a 1930s semi with a turning staircase. What we work on: hip strength, walking with crutches and then a stick, and safe stair practice on the turn at the top. The goal: upstairs to bed and out to the garden without help.

Example: a morning in Pinner. Starting point: someone with general unsteadiness who has stopped walking to the shops and cafes on Pinner High Street because of the slope and the busy pavements. What we work on: walking speed, kerbs and crossings, turning in a crowd and carrying a bag. The goal: a regular morning out in Pinner.

Example: woodland paths on Stanmore Common. Starting point: someone who enjoyed walks on Stanmore Common but stopped after tripping on a tree root. What we work on: balance on uneven ground, stepping over roots, using walking poles, and building distance week by week. The goal: a walk in the woods with family.

Other areas we visit

We also visit older adults at home in nearby Barnet, Brent, Ealing and Hillingdon, and across the rest of London, with no travel charge.