A doctor introduced a man friend as her partner but fellow GPs at the practice did not realise he was also one of her patients, a professional conduct committee heard.

The General Medical Council hearing was told Dr Yvonne Hunniford began seeing the man, referred to only as Mr B, in 2000 but retained him as a patient until her practice removed him from her list in May 2003.

Lynn Griffin, for the GMC, told the committee Dr Hunniford, who is in her early 40s, later abused her position by helping her lover in his attempts to secure council housing.

Dr Hunniford, of Willowbed Drive, Chichester, has denied serious professional misconduct.

The London hearing was told the doctor, who became a partner in the practice in 1992, introduced Mr B to colleagues at the Cathedral Medical Group, in Cawley Road, Chichester, on a number of occasions.

Mrs Griffin said he attended an open evening at the practice in September 2001, a retirement function in November that year and a Christmas lunch on December 15.

The pair were photographed at the festive event. Mrs Griffin said: "What colleagues saw was a couple, partners, boyfriend and girlfriend, together enjoying the Christmas party."

She said they were also observed kissing, dancing intimately and gave the impression that they were a happy couple.

Miss Griffin said the doctor introduced Mr B as her new boyfriend and would invite him to work functions "as her partner."

They were described as "a couple very much in love" at the Christmas party.

She said Mr B would not be a witness but doctors and surgery staff would describe the growing intimacy they witnessed, despite Dr Hunniford insisting he was just a valued friend she had known ten years.

She said: "By drawing the threads together of the observations of the different parties concerned, this is more than a valued friendship, but an adult, an intimate relationship of a sexual nature."

Senior practice partner Dr David Hoare told the hearing fellow doctors were unconcerned and had not realised the man was Dr Hunniford's patient until 2003.

But he said alarms had been sounded when Mr B acted as an advocate for a practice nurse - Miss P - in disciplinary proceedings over her performance and an alleged affair with Dr Jeremy Stupple, 46, a partner at the practice.

A local primary care trust revealed confidential information about the disciplinary process was being leaked from the centre.

Dr Hoare said: "Our practice manager suggested we should get a surveillance firm to do a sweep of the premises. I thought 'She has lost her marbles'."

The firm found a camera-sized listening device in the office of Dr Stupple, hidden behind a filing cabinet.

Mrs Griffin said it picked up conversations and could be listened to using an FM radio.

She claimed Dr Hunniford and Mr B had listened in from a car radio.

Miss Griffin added: "Batteries do not last forever and need to be replaced regularly.

"So it must have been necessary for somebody or some people to gain access to Dr Stupple's room to maintain that device."

It was discovered that a receptionist's security keypad code was being used at unusual times.

Miss P was also said to have demonstrated how the device worked to a friend, another surgery worker.

At one stage Dr Hunniford popped her head around the door as Miss P allowed her friend to listen to "muffled voices" via a mobile phone headset.

The barrister said Miss P told the doctor "I am just showing Liz" and the GP replied, "Oh, okay".

Miss Griffin said: "Because of her relationship with Mr B, she became involved with this business with the listening device to the point where she consented to the bugging of one of her partners."

Her involvement with the bug in Dr Stupple's consulting room was inappropriate and the GP must have been aware her actions compromised patient confidentiality.

The committee was told Dr Hunniford wrote two letters and attended a meeting in support of Mr B's application to Chichester District Council for housing.

Mrs Griffin said the doctor failed to disclose her relationship with her partner and abused her position in the failed attempt to secure him accommodation.

Council officer Rowena Gordon, who held a consultation with the couple, became concerned after she twice saw the pair holding hands in a supermarket.

Practice colleagues later challenged Dr Hunniford at a meeting and put the allegations of impropriety to her, recording the conversations on an audio CD.

She angrily denied taking part in the bugging but left the practice for a short time before returning to work.

In a solicitor's letter issued to the practice she claimed the allegations made against her were "hurtful" and "very distressing".

The doctor claimed Mr B had been friend for over 10 years and denied they shared a sexual relationship. She also claimed her work was the most important part of her life.

The hearing continues.