Inconsiderate GP Surgery

[FTMDiaries]

So... I legally changed my name last month and have written to everyone & his dog to get them to update their records. My GP's practice said I had to present myself in person to do the name change, so I toddled along with my Deed Poll in hand & filled out the required form.

Then last night I got a letter from their admin staff:

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Dear Mrs Previous FemaleName

We understand you have recently changed your name.

In order to update your records at the surgery we have been advised by the Health Authority that you will need to write to them first with your new details as they may need to change your NHS number.

Please write to them at the address provided.

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What the hell? How on Earth is it appropriate for my Doctor's surgery - the place I went to to start the ball rolling with my transition, an organisation that has known I'm trans for over 6 months - to address me by the wrong name, gender and title after they've referred me to the GIC and I've shown their staff evidence of my name change?

I can understand that they want me to write to the health authority, but it's just not appropriate to address me in that way when they should know better, especially since they have several trans patients on their books.

I intend to write to the Practice Manager to complain. Numpties!

[FTMDiaries]

OK, so after stewing for a while I've composed the following response. Any thoughts/advice?

Thank you for your letter acknowledging my change of name and advising me to write to the Health Authority so that they can update their records. I have now written to them as advised.

However, I regret I feel it necessary to point out that it is not appropriate to address one of your patients by the wrong name and gender, particularly if that patient is on your records as being transgender. Perhaps you were unaware of my status when you wrote the letter? For a transgender person, being addressed by the wrong name and gendered title is deeply distressing and detrimental to our wellbeing.

My transgender status has been a matter of record at your surgery since June last year, so that coupled with the name change form I completed - as well as the Deed Poll I showed to your Receptionist when I filled out the form - should be sufficient for the Practice's staff to at the very least address me appropriately in correspondence.

Your letter suggests my details have not been changed on your system, which makes me worried about what may occur if I need to see my GP or obtain a repeat prescription for any of my medication. Will I be able to book an appointment in the correct name? Will the correct name appear on the board in the waiting room to call me for my appointment? I trust I will not have to humiliate myself in front of your staff and other patients by responding to a female name that I am no longer legally entitled to use; nor should I have to answer to that name when collecting my prescription from a Pharmacist. I would be grateful if a solution could be found.

I am aware that you have several transgender patients at your Practice, and you will no doubt have more in the future. I hope that this letter will be taken to heart so that your transgender patients can be addressed courteously and respectfully, as per your Practice's Mutual Respect Policy.

[Beverly]

OK, so after stewing for a while I've composed the following response. Any thoughts/advice?

Yes - do not waste your time on the GP surgery.

Write to the PCT enclosing a copy of your Deed Poll and request a new NHS number in your new name and gender in line with accepted NHS practice. Also ask them to forward it to your GP practice. Once this is done the GP has no choice in the matter. You will receive a new card in the post with your new number on it, but you will need to inform the GIC of the change and any mental health services that you may be using as part of your transition support.

Amusingly, I received an additional letter with my new NHS number informing me that I was exempt from the cervical smear program.

[DriftingCrow]

I thought your letter to them was very nice  and to the point. 

[Padma]

It's actually their job to do this for you. It says so right in their Practice Notebook website, which tells the practice how to do stuff and what they're responsible for.

http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=x20100810201516329264

I went through this with my local surgery, who thought they couldn't change my records until I was post-surgery. Just ill-informed, so I pointed them to this page, and they sorted it out in a couple of weeks.

Them misgendering you and using the wrong name in a letter is inexcusable, though - except that often the office staff don't have all the info that the doctors do.

I had a GP at our practice misgender me - including over the phone in front of me to a pharmacist, where she told them "He's still a man", so I wrote her a strong letter explaining why this is inappropriate, and included relevant pages from Trans: A Practical Guide for the NHS which explained about the importance of correct and patient-led gendering.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_089941

A lot of the time, we're the first trans person to pass through a surgery - or the first in a few years, which amounts to the same thing, given the turnover of staff. I've taken the line of assuming they just don't know what they're supposed to do (or able to do) and I inform them as needed. If I ever run up against obvious prejudice (as was, I think, the case with that GP) then I'm prepared to push back a bit more firmly.

[John Smith]

I agree that the letter was nice and to the point.

I remember when I called in to have my name updated at my GP's clinic, the reseptionist was a bit "um.. er.. well.." and not sure if they could DO that. I assured her that yes, she COULD, just like they could for anyone else that legally changed their name because of marriage, divorce, a whim or whatever. :p Fortunately she shook off the confusion and double checked to find I was right.    (They would have access to public records and be able to sync through them, so I didn't need to bring any papers)

[FTMDiaries]

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

Having considered your advice, I've decided to do two things: I will contact my Health Authority and send them a copy of my Deed Poll and my current NHS card; and I will send my letter of complaint to my GP's surgery, complete with some of the info Padma posted (thanks Padma!).

According to the first link Padma posted, it looks like it's a bit of a palaver to get the name change done because the Health Authority also needs to change my gender marker. I did ask at the surgery about them contacting the Health Authority themselves, which they have done - and apparently it's the Health Authority that wants to hear from me directly. (Padma, your experience with your GP/Pharmacist sounds awful. Good for you for complaining!).

But I think it's still important that I send my letter of complaint to the doctors because the last thing I want is for this sort of nonsense to happen to some vulnerable, suicidal, teenage trans kid. It needs to be nipped in the bud - pronto.

[Padma]

It's always good to give feedback - and the more objectively you can express it, the more likely they are to take it on board.