A SENIOR coroner has questioned the wisdom of a 90-year-old man being asked to do balance exercises to prevent falls.

Philip Law was doing the doctor-approved exercises when he fell and banged his head, an inquest heard.

He was taken to Southampton General Hospital on August 10 but died in the early hours of the following day.

The inquest in Winchester heard that Mr Law, a retired cameraman, had been standing with one leg on the bed when doing the exercises when he toppled backwards.

The hearing was told he was under the care of his local GP at a surgery in Lymington but it was not clear who had advised him to carry out the exercises.

Mr Law fell at his home in Anchorage Way, Lymington, and went on to suffer a fatal haemorrhage.

At first he was conscious and could tell his wife Joan what had happened before he was taken to hospital and his condition worsened.

Grahame Short, senior coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: “It is difficult with unwitnessed falls but I’m satisfied this man was carrying out exercises on the recommendations of a doctor in his own bedroom and that he fell back and hit his head that led to internal bleeding.

“One has to question the wisdom of carrying out exercises with a man who clearly had a number of underlying conditions.

“One can understand that sitting in a chair and doing nothing is not healthy but there must be a balance between movement and exercise and caution.

The inquest heard that Mr Law’s exercises included walking down stairs with his arms behind his back.

Mr Short added: “Walking down stairs seems very unwise but it wasn’t that that led to his death.”