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?

Can one of you be Lucy T surname and the other Lucy M surname using middle names ?

wouldn't you just sit down with her and say "Lucy, are you planning on using your married name professionally" and if she says yes say "I think we have a problem with that and need to figure out a solution"

If she insists she will be Dr. Lucy Townshend, you can then pull rank and tell her that she has to make the adjustment - as in tells people she is Dr. Lucy or double-barrels etc if you genuinely think it will be a problem (and it sounds like it might be)

^ Not true in any legal sense.

Maybe not legally, but in terms of the dynamics of our practice, completely true.

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

And I hope she'd tell you where to go.

A GP friend of mine kept her maiden name for work - her married surname was the same as a colleague and she didn’t want people to think they were married! It’s NU to ask her, but definitely U to tell her.

Senior Partner or not, you can't dictate what someone's name is. Doesn't sound like you're going to be a nice senior partner to work with if that's your attitude too. You need to have a discussion and come to a amicable resolution if you value her participation in your practice. Maybe use middle names.

She might be legally entitled to do this but she'd be WEIRD to want to

I'd approach it like ''are you sure you want to do that? won't you look foolish, aren't you worried people will think you're trying to copy me, trying to be me, cos I am obviously the first lucy townsend''.

Approach it like that? as in are you for real

Not unreasonable at all to insist that a solution be found - you can't both be known by very similar names.

I think options are:

1. She keeps her maiden name professionally

1. She is referred to as "Dr Lucy" - although that might be confusing too, if people know your first name

1. You switch to your married name - that could also be confusing as there will still be someone with your name

I think 1 is the best solution.

I see your point completely. The issue is how to raise it. Perhaps point out the potential pitfall of her idea, and ask her to suggest how it could be avoided. When she comes up with the idea of keeping her maiden name professionally, you can tell her what a brilliant idea she's had

I am sure you can list the advantages of using different names in the different parts of your life, and it's a trick that male GPs can't pull off!

Is this a matter for your practice manager? How would the practice handle it if an excellent GP wanted to join the practice and shared a surname with an existing GP?

YANBU, but you could ask her not to use her married name to avoid confusion. It's going to cause problems for the patients, and that as far as I can see is the main concern.

The practice I went to as a child had this problem- Dr Mullen and Dr Mullet. The second one became Dr Paul and was for the rest of time, even after the original one retired and the second one became the lead partner. As patients we thought it was a very sensible approach.

I would have thought it was obvious that she can't have the same name as you. Patients need to know who they're seeing! I think it's extremely reasonable to tell her she can't practice at your surgery under that name.

Your username is interesting. Do you often find yourself in difficult situations at work? Have you considered that they may be of your own making, caused by your poor attitude?

In all honesty if you 'told' me I wasn't allowed to change my name I would absolutely refuse to accept it, and if you threatened me with professional consequences for it I'd be speaking to an employment solicitor. Up to you what you do of course.

It does sound really annoying and I'm surprised that if this person has realised this she would go ahead. It seems a little strange.
I think you have fair reason for discussion and a valid point, but you also cannot tell her what to do. And to be honest with that attitude you are more likely to wind her up and ensure she does change her name.
From a patient point of view it could be confusing, and I'm sorry but you'll probably just get called the old one and the young one for ease, which maybe even more annoying!

You have no right to 'tell' her.

Your patients will probably differentiate by saying the old or the new one. Or the blonde haired or brown haired one. Or the nice one and the grumpy one.

Wow how weird

Honestly i don’t think it will be impossible to adapt though. Your receptionists will need more training on how to distinguish between you with service users on the phone eg ‘was that Blonde Lucy?’ (Or whatever suits you.) Receptionists could check their records to see which one of you a patient last saw. Could one of you go by a middle name or use your middle name too? Eg Lucy Anne and Lucy Rose, then LAT and LRT as initials if that helps? It’s not the absolute end of the world, you can find a solution.

I think you are completely within your rights, if you are her line manager, to say that’s it’s not practical and will lead to patient complaints when they get booked in with the ‘wrong’ doctor. Plus when tests and referrals are ordered, the chance of duplication or error is high.

I’d say you can make a patient safety case for saying she must be known by a distinct name at work.

I can see that it would be a bit difficult, but if she really wants to change her name then surely the reception staff can determine which doctor is requested by using a few questions - is it the old Dr Townsend or the new Dr Townshend? is it the blonde Dr Townsend or the dark haired Dr Townshend? etc etc.

Have you actually discussed it with her?

There are some stroppy folk on here, for sure. Can she not see the problem? Sheesh. Even her OWN patients might be confused!

Don't you have middle names?

Dr Lucy Claire Townsend or Dr Lucy Anne Townshend.

I can't believe people think that Yabu (although you do sound a bit arsey ).

I was a PN and the first practice I ever worked at had a Dr Simons and Dr Simmons and believe me, that was a nightmare!

Pretty dense of her to want to take her husband’s name when it’s so close to yours and is bound to cause problems on a daily basis. Then again, I’ve never seen why women do this voluntarily anyway. I remember reading “The Handmaid’s Tale” when I was a kid and realising that being called Mrs Bob Smith was just another version of Offbob. Surreal when you think about it.
She should use her name. Not her husband’s name. She can call herself what she wants privately, but to stick to her guns would be uneccesary and a bit daft.

Wow I hope she takes legal action for sex discrimination. Imagine if you were a man telling her she wasn't allowed to change her name after marriage. No one has the right to dictate this.