To tell colleague she can't change her name?

[Professionalminefield]

To summarise:

I am a GP partner, and have been at the practice I work at for over 20 years. I changed my name when I got married, but continued to practise under my maiden name, as that's what my patients know me by.

We have a relatively new partner in the practice, who has the same first name as me. (Let's say it's Lucy). She is getting married in the summer, and is planning on changing her name both personally and professionally.

The issue is that, as I found out today, her fiancé's surname is almost identical to my professional name. My surname is Townsend, her married name is Townshend.

So our practice will have a Dr Lucy Townsend and a Dr Lucy Townshend.

This is absolutely not going to work for multiple reasons:
- Many patients, especially those who don't come that regularly, struggle to remember who their GP is, or which GP they want to see. They're not going to be able to distinguish between Dr Townsend and Dr Townshend if prompted on the phone.
- We are in an ethnically diverse area with high levels of immigration. As a result, many of our receptionists (who give out some appointments) and our patients are not native English speakers and will struggle to hear the very slight difference between the names.

WIBU to tell my colleague that she can't change her name?

Well be prepared to have to recuit a new GP and these days i hear that is not easy :) as if you tried to lay down the law like that 1 i would take legal advice and 2 i would leave your practice up the swanny as GP are rare theses days.

I thought doctors always used their maiden name for practice?

Have you discussed it with your current senior partner? If you're both in agreement that it will cause confusion for patients, then discuss it with her.

I would be amazed if someone who is bright enough to get a medical degree, hasn't got the common sense to realise that it would be extremely difficult to change her name under the circumstances.

That's rubbish the cats - are you saying that the many women who choose to use their maiden name for professional purposes are using an illegal name?! Can't believe how many people think you're being unreasonable OP - to me it's common sense, although needs to be handled sensitively if she's a delicate flower.

A possible solution, could she be known as Dr Lucy? If she doesn’t mind that would solve it. I totally agree about confusion for patients so you changing your name would be a bit of a night mare. Could lead to lots of wasted appointments and time if patients are booked in with wrong Dr and either want to rebook or you have to trawl through history again to update.

I thought doctors always used their maiden name for practice?

No they don’t. Many choose to, but they do not have to and do not always do so.

Legally you don’t have a leg to stand on here. Given that this will legally be her name she is legally allowed to use it.

Also, if you are saying that she can’t use it, does that mean you would discriminate against her if she’d applied to work there after she’d already changed her name? Imagine the feedback “why didn’t I get the job?” “Because your name is the same as mine.” You’d be up on a discrimination charge before you could count to ten.

While your reasons are valid, there’s every chance you’ll have to suck it up and there is literally *nothing you can do about it.

It's not unheard of for there to be two GPs with exactly the same surname in one practice. In my experience, the receptionists refer to them as Dr Their First Name.

It states in the OP that they have the same first name.

I'm surprised by how many people think the OP is being wildly unreasonable. Okay, the tone isn't great but the point stands - the doctor looking to change her name really should have seen this issue a mile off.

I love all this talk about 'legal' names. in the UK you can call yourself whatever you want. Yes you are registered at birth with a name. BUT you can change it whenever you want, without requiring deed poll (that just makes it easier). We don't have identity papers, and changing your name can be a pain. But you can do it.

So which of you will change your name to Dr Poopypants, and which to Captain underpants? I've love to see the patients' expressions when given those options for an appointment.

For goodness' sake! Surely two bright GPs can hammer out a compromise here. Where is the common sense in this ridiculous situation? Somebody needs to grow up.

Oh for heavens sake.
No doubt you are a highly intelligent and competent person.
You lack common sense.
In any work place you would simply raise this as a problem to be solved. "Sue, im sure you have already spotted the problem about 2 docs with same name, what do you think we should do?"
Issue will be soon solved. No need to pull rank.

'If I tell her she can't, then she can't'

Then why post? Just tell her. Then enjoy court.

Use the older Dr and the younger Dr, or put a middle initial Or Dr T nee maiden name.

Growing up our GPs were a married couple, with the same surname.

When they got a new Dr he was referred to as, 'the new Dr' for many years, he has retired now, I think my parents were still calling him 'the new Dr' until he did.

She says in her OP that she changed her name on marriage, but not professionally.

Fine, a choice that worked at the time. But now there is someone who wants to legally change their name on marriage, and has a right to. The OP can just as easily revisit her choice. She is overstating the confusion, IMO, of her patients "getting used to" her changing her name. If she'd changed back when it started, there would be no issue now.

The ego comes from the assertion that her 20 years at the practice is enough to ride roughshod over her colleague who is making a perfectly normal plan for using her married name, as she is entitled to, and by the GMC, obliged to if she changes it there.

As others have said, the NHS is hardly like some private practice where people are going to move for the sake of this! The options are the OP talks with less arrogance than she has here to her colleague and use diplomacy to get what she wants (given that her colleague has the stronger hand in forcing the opposite), changes her name, or maturely discussed a solution.

There is, of course, a clear solution:

Dr. Townsend the Elder and Dr. Townsend the Younger.

Sorted.

It surprises me that people think op is in the wrong here too amused bush. It might not have occurred to the soon to be married GP but this could well piss off a lot of patients. They might get booked with the wrong GP when they have been seeing Dr Townsend for years. Older patients who come a lot get very attached to “ their” GP.

Dr Townsend the older?? 😂😂. Not sure I’d want that. Snr and Jnr perhaps

nursy1

But even considering that, she has every right to use her married name. Nobody gets to dictate that to her.

Tell her she must marry someone else - 'if I tell her she can't then she can't.'
If she's -arsey- stubborn about it tell her husband he has to change his name.

nursy1

The Elder, like Pliny or Pitt

Looking at it from a patient centred point of view, having two doctors with the same name is clearly going to lead to confusion, or at least drive the reception staff to distraction having to deal with 'which Dr T is that? The blonde or the brunette?'

OP - you are not in the least bit being unreasonable.

Or the old public school solution: Townsend major and Townsend minor.

DadDadDad

Major PITA?

pengwyn
Elder is as bad. The OP will immediately start to use a stick and buy rimless half moon glasses. 😂
Yes. She could insist on using her newly married name but it will lead to problems as I’ve described. I’m sure partners and practice manager have spotted this issue so for her to be insistent would be a bit daft. She would be Mrs Townshend every where else. Lots female GPs like the distinction. Stalking your Dr is not unknown after all and it gives a layer of anonymity in your private life. Just easier if she also continues to practise professionally under her maiden name. It’s nothing an open discussion within the practice can’t solve.

Tell her no. My surgery has two Dr Ahmeds. We refer to them by their first names to differentiate as one is a much more helpful Dr than the other (in my opinion!)

I thought doctors always used their maiden name for practice?

Not all, no. Some do. The vast majority of female doctors I know (myself included) changed to use married name both personally and professionally.