How to get nhs records to have the correct name (keeps being changed back)?

[seven201]

Re-posted as I accidentally put the true name in twice!

Can anyone who work in NHS admin help as to who I can contact to get a name problem properly rectified?

My dd is 5. I will make up names. Her name is Amy Betty Cole and always has been. About 6 months ago we had a speech therapy appointment come through with the name Maymsa (that's the actual new first name on records) Cole. We didn't think much of it, just thought it was a one off error. Then had another letter and raised it with the speech therapist who said that's her name on the system now she will ask for it to be investigated. Asked at the GP and they said it also shows as Maymsa and they changed it back to Amy. Then got an email from vaccination team under Maymsa to book school Flu jab. Contacted vaccination team and gp and they both changed it back to Amy. Vaccination day comes around and my daughter isn't vaccinated as it was back as Maymsa!! Changed back again at gp and vaccination team. Although last time I checked with vaccination team the only way they can find her is by putting in "Amy (and) Betty" into the first name box, despite Betty being a middle name. I keep being told at the gp that it is sorted and stop bothering them basically. I went in today for something else and asked what name they have for my daughter. It's gone back to the made up name! She said there's two records and Maymsa Cole has a PO Box address and the preferred name is Amy Betty Cole. I think there are two nhs numbers too. She said she's changed it back and that's done. It's obviously not done, but I'm not getting any further with the Gp. She can't go the rest of her life struggling to make appointments as her name keeps being changed back to this random word.

Does anyone know who I contact to try and get this properly sorted? It's driving me bonkers!

Sorry that was so long!

In my previous thread (with accidental names in) abitodd recommended asking the gp practice to contact pcse, so I will try that. Any other tips? My gp practice are incredibly hard to get hold of (short staffed) - last week I was on hold for 2 hrs 17 mins then got cut off!

Watching with interest because I turned up at hospital (outside my area because it’s where I was referred to) for a planned operation and the address they had for me was wrong. They changed it but when I phoned up about the follow up appointment it had again changed back to the wrong address! It had happened, at last count, 5 times. Seems to be some odd quirk in the system somewhere.

Email them rather than ringing.

@SoSickOfItNow good luck! It's so annoying.

I've emailed them asking them to contact the pcse. Wasted many hours of my life on this already and got nowhere, so hopefully this is the solution.

And I have emailed previously and been told all was sorted, when it wasn't.

Do you think it is possible 2 children with same d.o.b. have accidentally been given the same NHS number? Would seeing the medical record and checking it at least confirm all records pertain to your child?

@TeenMinusTests I asked that today and the receptionist laughed saying you think there is someone called Maymsa Cole born on the same day? That's when I asked her to check if the other record was somewhere local and she said it's registered to a P.O. Box not a home address. Our real surname is less common that Cole, but not massively so. It's a mystery!

@TeenMinusTests that is a good idea to check it hasn't got any random entries in it. Thanks

I have a unisex name and when I was at uni my records got mixed up with another (male) Sam Jones (not real names), where we both had the same name and the same DOB!

I went for a pill prescription which is when it came to light as the whole record was down as male... took quite some time to get the records separated as they had been merged somehow. We did have different NHS numbers though.

Have you tried a google search on the other name?

@NothingIsWrong when I was at uni there was another woman with the same first name and surname as me and she was sent my inconclusive smear test results, and told everyone in her halls! That was a long time ago though and they fixed it. I don't mind a mistake being made, but I do think it needs fixing, by my gp practice don't seem to think it's a problem.

Your GP practice is the right place to get this sorted out. Updating your name, address etc in your GP record will update the central Personal Demographic Service (PDS) which will flow through to other services such vaccination, screening etc.

If there is a bigger problem with duplicate record etc (it can happen but it's rare) then your GP practice may need to contact the national back office (NBO) to sort it out.

https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-back-office-for-the-personal-demographics-service/data-quality-incidents#reporting-data-quality-incidents

@TeenMinusTests good idea. Just tried but no. The new name is actually "Maymsa", I don't mind saying that on here. I can't work out for sure if it is an actual name or a typo. There's a Maymsa on Instagram, but I don't think that means much.

I think we had been said it's two records merged, hence it keeps changing back. You need to find out from your GP who owns these centrally and complain to them

[quote seven201]@TeenMinusTests I asked that today and the receptionist laughed saying you think there is someone called Maymsa Cole born on the same day? That's when I asked her to check if the other record was somewhere local and she said it's registered to a P.O. Box not a home address. Our real surname is less common that Cole, but not massively so. It's a mystery![/quote]
It's common enough in London that when allocating student numbers needed for GCSE that data managers can spend hours if not days sorting out the issue so that kids can be entered for exams. The software that allocates the numbers will frequently identify kids as a match due to similarities in name including possible typos, date of birth and address or parent details.

I've got a name that is apparently unique online with first and surname as well as first, middle and surname.

Didn't stop me being given medical results and prescriptions for somebody whose middle name and date of birth matched mine - because hers was a married name, it didn't happen as a child, but when I moved to the same area, bingo. It was made worse by her clearly using the same dentist, optician, pharmacy and GP practice. Once I was handed her penicillin when I'm on record as having anaphylaxis to the stuff, I went nuts and it never happened again, though.

[quote ChequerBoard]Your GP practice is the right place to get this sorted out. Updating your name, address etc in your GP record will update the central Personal Demographic Service (PDS) which will flow through to other services such vaccination, screening etc.

If there is a bigger problem with duplicate record etc (it can happen but it's rare) then your GP practice may need to contact the national back office (NBO) to sort it out.

https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-back-office-for-the-personal-demographics-service/data-quality-incidents#reporting-data-quality-incidents[/quote]
@ChequerBoard amazing, thank you so much. Since they've already changed her name 4 times I think, I'll ask them to contact DPS.

*PDS!

@NeverDropYourMoonCup (love your name btw) that is awful!!

[quote seven201]@NothingIsWrong when I was at uni there was another woman with the same first name and surname as me and she was sent my inconclusive smear test results, and told everyone in her halls! That was a long time ago though and they fixed it. I don't mind a mistake being made, but I do think it needs fixing, by my gp practice don't seem to think it's a problem.

[/quote]
I think the male Sam Jone would deffo have issues with smear test result!

The surgery said it happened when they moved from paper to computer and someone didn't pick up the different NHS number and just added my records to his on data entry.

Hopefully they will clear it up for you soon

It sounds like two patients keep getting mixed up. We had similar with a patient with exactly the same first, middle and surname and date of birth! The records ended up being merged. It is a nightmare to sort out but the advice above of who to contact is correct. I would put something in writing to the practice manager to make it more formal too so they make sure it's sorted.

People with the same/similar unusual names and same dates of birth happens more often than you think. I suspect another admin person in either the hospital or GPs keeps changing back the names or isn't bothering to change them even when they say they have.

We had this scenario a few times at the hospital I work at. Where one patient needed regular tests that could have caused harm to the other if mixed up. We had notes everywhere saying be aware you get the correct Mrs X.

I had this with my name! Took me literally years. Eventually a new receptionist started at the GP and sorted it out for me - so I’d try and engage the GP as suggested above!

Definitely put it formally in writing if the receptionist is being less than helpful. Talk about the potential for a data protection breach.

Thank you everyone. Have sent an email to the practice manager with the suggestions for who they need to contact. Hopefully it will get sorted.

Definitely put it formally in writing if the receptionist is being less than helpful.

Yes, this. Is there a higher up central body whose name you can invoke, if they fail to do so? There can be very serious consequences for companies/bodies/individuals who refuse to acknowledge somebody's new identity, if they make it known that they have changed it, so I don't see why somebody who has always had the same identity since birth, which they are refusing to acknowledge and represent correctly, should have any fewer rights.

Seriously, if they persist in treating it like it doesn't matter, I would frame it to them clearly in terms of 'refusing to acknowledge a person's correct identity' rather than just 'you got her name wrong'. That might make them stop and think more carefully.

I agree that this is something you need to get sorted ASAP. The older she gets, the more integrated records she'll end up with - and she'll have years of people patronising her, asking if she's sure and, ironically, blaming her parents for the mistake/not getting the mistake corrected when she was young.

I know it's only an example name, but honestly, if they had Amy down as May or something.... but 'Maymsa'?!?!?!

I agree that it sounds like two different patients getting mixed up. I deal with similar kinds of information and "same names - same date of birth - different people" cases do happen. Not the case here as someone keeps overriding the correct name.

I second getting it in writing - I wonder if GDPR is being breached as the data is not accurate and not being corrected promptly.