AN award-winning hospital consultant hanged himself after complaining of stress at work, an inquest heard.

Renowned eye surgeon John Fuller, known as Rob, had also become depressed about an ongoing building project at his luxury home in Broadstone, Dorset Coroner Sheriff Payne was told.

The Bournemouth inquest heard Mr Fuller, who was an Opthalmic Consultant Surgeon at the Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, had suffered from depression over several years before he was found hanged in the garage of his property in Lower Blandford Road on October 13 last year.

His partner, Tracy Glen, told the coroner Mr Fuller, 49, also worked in private hospitals including The Harbour Hospital in Poole.

She said Mr Fuller, who owned properties in New Zealand and in Plymouth, refused to take medication for depression because he did not want to adversely affect his career.

Miss Glen added: “He was very popular with the majority of his colleagues, junior doctors and patients. He devoted his life to medicine.”

And she said he had felt under stress when a number of colleagues left the Dorset County Hospital Opthalmology department at the same time.

The coroner was told that shortly before Mr Fuller’s death, concern was expressed for his welfare by the building project manager and a complaint had been made against him at work.

Recording a verdict that Mr Fuller took his own life, Mr Payne said: “He was highly successful in his career. He had brought the Dorset County Hospital up to Clinical Excellence standard but hidden in the background there had been some depression.”

A spokesperson for Dorset County Hospital said: “We have established and proven systems to support staff and help assess solutions to stress in the workplace.

“These have been developed from the Health and Safety Executive management standards on stress. Managers are encouraged to undertake risk assessments with their staff where appropriate.”