Physio-on-sea
How Fiona found her perfect work/life balance as a community physiotherapist in coastal Kent
When physiotherapist and self-confessed water baby Fiona was looking for a new home for her growing family, she knew she wanted to live near the sea. Juggling a career with parental responsibilities meant a fresh start for the whole family, who found their perfect work-life balance in Margate.
Fiona said: “When I was pregnant with my oldest child Alex, who’s now nine, my husband Adam and I knew we wanted to buy a house and put down some roots. But living in Shepherd’s Bush in west London, it just wasn’t viable, even on our shared income. We were also worried about the traffic and pollution in London.
“I’m a qualified physiotherapist and Adam is a teacher in a special needs school. We started looking for places to live further afield and found a fantastic family home in Westbrook, which is in Margate in east Kent.
“The next issue was finding somewhere I could work, which was family-friendly but would still allow me to develop my career. Luckily, I found the perfect role with Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT).
“I’ve always liked to live near the water, I used to go swimming in Hampstead ponds so the thought of being able to swim in the sea every day was an absolute game-changer for me. Adam also wanted to improve our quality of life.”
Fiona moved to east Kent with her family in 2015 and began her journey with KCHFT as a band 5 physiotherapist, later progressing to a band 6 in community neuro-rehabilitation, working across the Isle of Thanet. Just nine years later, she’s a band 7 clinical lead bringing up two boys, with Owen completing the family in 2018.
Fiona said: “Work-wise, the team here is fantastic, we have a real sense of being part of a strong community, we collaborate really well. We often see people with complex needs in the community and so we visit them together. I work closely with the occupational therapists, speech and Language therapist, stroke nurse and therapy assistants. My passion is Parkinson’s which is a really interesting field, but we see people with all sorts of neurological issues, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s and brain injuries.
“In the clinical lead role, you get lots of variety, so some days you have your caseload of patients to see, some days you have meetings with colleagues, some days it’s catching up with paperwork and mandatory training so you can work from home – no two days are the same.
Fiona relaxes at her beach hut in Westgate-On-Sea
“There’s a real community in Westbrook, we’ve made so many lovely friends through the school, local groups and book clubs, we have nice neighbours, there’s always someone to talk to.
“Adam still works in London but luckily he can commute from Margate, which is brilliant.
“We now hire a beach hut every summer and the boys and I use it practically every day. They are both at amazing local schools, just a 10-minute pollution-free walk away and we spend our weekends on the beach. I can often fit in a sea swim if I’m working from home, or I have a patient in the area, I can jump in the sea in my lunch break.
“We really have found our perfect work-life balance here in Margate. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
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