Falls prevention physiotherapy at home in Wandsworth

Worried about falls, or finding the commons, the river paths and the busy junctions harder than they used to be? A Chartered Physiotherapist, registered with the HCPC, visits older adults at home across Wandsworth, from Battersea and Putney to Balham and Tooting. We work on strength, balance and stamina to help you keep enjoying the things that suit this part of London: a walk by the river at Putney, a loop of Wandsworth Common, or a browse along Northcote Road on market day. Every programme starts with a falls risk assessment at home.

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Homes in Wandsworth

Many people here live in Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses, the kind found street after street between the commons in Balham, Earlsfield and around Northcote Road, often with the bedroom and bathroom up a narrow flight of stairs. Balham and Battersea also have mansion blocks, some with lifts and some without. Tooting has the Totterdown Fields cottage estate, and Battersea has large council estates such as the Winstanley, Doddington and Rollo estates. In Roehampton, the Alton Estate mixes tall slab blocks, towers and low maisonettes, while the riverside west from Nine Elms has newer apartment blocks. Every visit starts with how you get around your own home, from the bed to the bathroom and out of the front door. As a physiotherapist who comes to your home, we practise the stairs and steps you actually use, at a pace that is safe for you.

Where we visit in Wandsworth

We offer physiotherapy home visits across the borough, including Battersea, Nine Elms, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Town, Putney, Putney Heath, Roehampton, Southfields, Earlsfield, Balham, Tooting, Tooting Bec, Furzedown and Summerstown. That covers postcodes SW11, SW12, SW15, SW17 and SW18, and parts of SW4, SW8, SW16 and SW19. There is no travel charge anywhere in London.

Coming home from hospital

Many Wandsworth residents are treated at St George's Hospital in Tooting, run by St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 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 borough is known for its open spaces. Battersea Park has its lake, the Peace Pagoda and the Old English Garden, and Wandsworth Common, Tooting Commons, Putney Heath, King George's Park and Wandsworth Park are all good for a regular walk. By the river, people like the Putney Embankment by the rowing clubs and the walk towards Battersea Power Station. For shopping and company there is Northcote Road and its market, the indoor Tooting Market and Broadway Market, Putney High Street, and Southside in Wandsworth Town. Libraries in Balham, Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth Town, and leisure centres in Putney, Tooting, Balham and at Latchmere, are popular places to stay active, and Tooting Bec Lido is a local favourite. Getting about can mean the Northern line at Balham, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway or Clapham South, the District line at East Putney and Southfields, trains from Clapham Junction, Putney or Earlsfield, or the bus. Clapham Junction is one of the busiest stations in the country, and Putney Hill, West Hill and East Hill are long climbs. We practise the walk to the stop or station, the stairs and the crowds at the interchange, 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: a loop of Wandsworth Common. Starting point: someone who walked round the common every morning but has felt generally unsteady and now only goes as far as the corner shop. What we work on: walking stamina, balance on grass and uneven paths, and crossing the busy roads around the common. The goal: the morning loop of the common again, with a stop at the café.

Example: the stairs in a Balham terrace. Starting point: someone home after a broken hip, living in a Victorian terrace with the only bathroom upstairs. What we work on: leg strength, safe stair practice with the rail and walking aid, and getting in and out of the bath or shower. The goal: moving around the whole house safely without help.

Example: Tooting Market again. Starting point: someone who shopped at Tooting Market and Broadway Market every week, but since a fall feels nervous on the busy High Street and on the bus. What we work on: balance in crowds, carrying bags, and getting on and off the bus at Tooting Broadway. The goal: the weekly shop at the markets again.

Example: the riverside at Putney. Starting point: someone home after a knee replacement who loved walking along the Putney Embankment to watch the rowers. What we work on: knee strength and bend, walking without a stick, and building distance along the flat riverside path. The goal: a regular walk by the river again.

Other areas we visit

We also visit older adults at home in nearby Lambeth, Merton, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, and across the rest of London, with no travel charge.