Midwife revealed love rival's secret abortion

Jane Harmer told her former lover that his partner had undergone the abortion 19 years earlier and warned him that she may have been unfaithful, leaving him at risk from a sexually transmitted disease.

What Harmer did not know was that the man's partner terminated the pregnancy after she had been raped.

Yesterday, Harmer, who was also a qualified midwife, was struck off for breaching patient confidentiality.

The 51-year-old was a specialist community public health nurse at the Rockcliffe Court Surgery in Hurworth Place, near Darlington, when the incident happened in October 2003.

She admitted breaching patient confidentiality while employed by Darlington Primary Care Trust.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) was told yesterday that Harmer had consulted the woman's confidential medical files.

Finding her guilty of misconduct, Jill Crawford, chairwoman of the NMC's professional conduct committee, said: "She disclosed sensitive information.

"It is a particularly serious breach of trust."

Harmer, who did not attend the London hearing yesterday, qualified as a health visitor at Teesside Polytechnic in 1978.

She had previously been dismissed by the trust for alcoholism. She appealed and was reinstated, but later resigned, the committee was told.

Harmer began an affair with her patient after he was referred to her for counselling sessions for stress and anxiety.

David Glendinning, for the NMC, said her affair with the man - known as Mr A - began as the sessions ended in April 1999.

This continued until January 2003, when Harmer revealed the relationship to Mr A's partner - referred to as Miss B.

Mr Glendinning said their relationship resumed in July 2003, which mainly involved telephone conversations.

In the meantime, Harmer loaned Mr A £40,000, a debt that she became concerned about.

By October 2003, the relationship again ended after Harmer told Mr A she could no longer continue being "the other woman".

A few days later, the pair had an argument during a telephone conversation and Harmer blurted out the secret of Miss B's abortion.

She told an astonished Mr A that in Miss B's medical records, there was a letter from a GP detailing an abortion.

She had not discussed the incident with anyone at the time except her GP, the panel was told.

"In the course of the argument, matters became quite heated and Harmer suggested that Miss B might also have been unfaithful to Mr A and could be exposing him to the risk of sexually transmitted disease as well," said Mr Glendinning.

"She felt unable to discuss the abortion with anyone other than her GP.

"The reason she had not discussed this procedure with anyone else is because the circumstances surrounding it are extremely sensitive and distressing."

Mr A told Miss B about what had been said.

She initially denied it, but eventually "became extremely upset as she revealed the truth to her partner".

Miss B later confronted Harmer, from Darlington, and told her that the abortion took place 19 years earlier after she had been raped by a friend.

"Miss B became very upset whilst telling Harmer this and was on the point of leaving when Harmer apologised, expressed a wish to help and offered her services as a counsellor," said Mr Glendinning.

Striking her off, Mrs Crawford said: "Confidential information was used to undermine the relationship between Mr A and Miss B.

"It clearly caused considerable distress to Miss B, necessitating her disclosure to Mr A of especially personal and troubling events in her past, which she had chosen not to discuss for some 19 years with anyone other than relevant medical practitioners.

"She disclosed confidential information about Miss B to Mr A for her own purposes and without regard to the interests, rights or well-being of Miss B."

Sue Sleeman, for Harmer, said she had been anxious about Mr A's ability to repay the £40,000 and was angry.

Ms Sleeman said: "She has admitted the facts and has considerable insight into just how wrong her conduct was."