Change of Name on Clinical System

Had several specific queries in last few weeks relating to the issue of change of name. The most common reason is related to patients who have a passport which is still in their maiden name, as they haven’t updated it for whatever reason, and the required Covid passport certificate held in the NHS App which is in their married name as its linked to their clinical record. The problem arises when they want to go on holiday as officials checking the passport and covid certificate expect the names to be the same. In this situation the easiest, quickest, and cheapest option is for the patient to ask the GP Practice to change their name back to their maiden name in the GP clinical system to match their passport.

The basic concepts around change of name are in the attached guidance document. I know that some of you may be surprised by the first sentence which basically states that anyone can change their name at any time. There is no legal requirement to follow any set process such as deed poll so long as there is no intention to commit fraud. Organisations being asked to change official records such as Banks, HMRC and the NHS can ask for some form of evidence or proof that it is a genuine change and several GP Practices have initiated some form of check. An example I found just researching this article is here.