Home Physiotherapy in Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear looks small on a map, but the river cuts it in two. Getting from North Shields to South Shields means the ferry or the tunnel, and a trip across Newcastle to a clinic can mean two buses or a Metro and a walk. If you are sore, just home from hospital or no longer driving, the journey is often the hardest part of the appointment. Home physiotherapy takes it away.

What is home physiotherapy?

It is the same service you would get in a clinic, but in your own home. The assessment, the hands-on treatment, the exercises and the check-ups all happen where you actually live.

That matters more than it sounds. A clinic can show a physiotherapist how you walk along a corridor. It cannot show them how you manage your own stairs, get out of your own armchair, or step into your own bath. Those are usually the things people want help with.

Who does it help most?

• Older people who have had a fall, or who feel unsteady and have started to stay in more
• Anyone just home from hospital, after an illness, an infection or an operation, who has come home weaker than they went in
• People recovering from a stroke or living with a neurological condition such as Parkinson's
• People after a hip or knee replacement or a broken bone, when driving is off the table for weeks
• Anyone with back or joint pain bad enough that sitting in a car or on a bus makes it worse
• Carers who cannot easily leave the person they look after for an hour

What happens at the first visit?

The first appointment lasts about an hour. It starts with a conversation: what has happened, what has changed, what is hard now, and what you want to be able to do again. That last question shapes everything else.

Then a physical check: how you move, how strong your legs are, how steady your balance is, where it hurts. Because it happens at home, it takes in the things that matter to you — the stairs, the chair, the bed, the bathroom, the step at the front door.

You finish the first visit with treatment on the day and a short plan you can follow. Usually that is a few specific exercises, not a long sheet nobody does.

How many visits will I need?

There is no set number. Someone who has lost strength after a short illness might need three or four visits. Getting back on your feet after a long hospital stay, or after a stroke, usually takes longer, with the gaps between visits stretching out as you improve.

What matters is being honest from the start. If a few visits will do it, that is what you should be told.

Do I need a GP referral?

No. You can book private physiotherapy directly, with no waiting list. If you have a hospital discharge letter, a GP letter or exercises from the ward, keep them handy for the first visit, because they help. They are not needed to get started.

Sometimes the honest answer is that you need to see your GP first. That is what the free phone call is for, and it is worth having before you spend anything.

How does it fit alongside NHS care?

Most people in the county are looked after by one of four NHS hospital trusts: the RVI and the Freeman in Newcastle, the Queen Elizabeth in Gateshead, Sunderland Royal and South Tyneside District Hospital south of the river, and North Tyneside General at North Shields. NHS community teams often see people for a short time after they get home. Private home physiotherapy can pick up where that stops, or add more visits where you want them. It works alongside your NHS care, not against it.

Which areas of Tyne and Wear are covered?

• North Tyneside: North Shields, Tynemouth, Whitley Bay, Cullercoats, Monkseaton, Wallsend, Killingworth, Longbenton, Forest Hall, Shiremoor
• Newcastle: Newcastle upon Tyne, Gosforth, Jesmond, Heaton, Newburn
• South Tyneside: South Shields, Jarrow, Hebburn, Boldon, Whitburn, Cleadon
• Gateshead: Gateshead, Low Fell, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Birtley
• Sunderland: Sunderland, Washington, Hetton-le-Hole

About Steve McLaren

Steve McLaren is a chartered physiotherapist (MCSP, HCPC PH52681) providing home visit physiotherapy across North Shields, Tynemouth, Whitley Bay, Newcastle, Gateshead, South Shields, Sunderland and across Tyne and Wear. He qualified in 1997 and has spent more than 20 years in community rehabilitation, treating people in their own homes. He works in the NHS in Newcastle, in a rapid response team that treats frail older people at home and in the emergency department, and his particular interest is falls prevention. He lives in North Shields.

Read Steve's profile or call 07788 974385.

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