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EMMA is Not Recognising a Patient's Name or is Using an Old Name

Purpose of Document

Patient name complaints are sensitive. They can relate to patient safety if the wrong name appears on a clinical form, and they can also relate to patient dignity and trust if EMMA uses an outdated name such as a previous married name or a former legal name. Support staff must understand how EMMA collects, verifies, and submits patient name data, and be able to explain this clearly and sensitively to practices.

Background: How EMMA Identifies a Patient's Name

EMMA identifies patients using a two-layer process.

Layer 1: Caller ID (optional, where enabled)

If the surgery has uploaded a patient list and enabled the Caller ID feature, EMMA can recognise a caller's phone number and pre-match them to a patient record before the call begins. This speeds up the initial identification step.

Caller ID is an optional feature. If a surgery has not uploaded a patient list or has chosen not to enable Caller ID, EMMA proceeds directly to Layer 2 for all callers.

Layer 2: PDS (Personal Demographics Service) live validation

On every call, EMMA performs a live lookup against the NHS Personal Demographics Service. EMMA asks the patient for their name, date of birth, and postcode. These details are used to verify the patient against PDS in real time. The name returned by PDS is the legal name held on the patient's NHS record.

This is the source of truth EMMA uses. If the name on the PDS record is different from the name the patient uses in everyday life, for example because they have recently changed their name after marriage or have a preferred name that differs from their legal name, EMMA will use the PDS legal name when submitting the form.

The read-back step

After collecting the patient's details, EMMA reads back the information it has recorded to allow the patient to confirm or correct it. As of 1 May 2026, phone numbers, postcodes, and names are now read back clearly at a measured, unhurried pace. This improvement makes it easier for patients to catch and correct any errors before submission.

Common Causes and What to Check

1. EMMA is using the patient's old name because the PDS record has not been updated

This is the most common cause. A patient may have recently changed their name through marriage, divorce, deed poll, or gender recognition, and the change has not yet been updated on their NHS PDS record. EMMA reads the name from PDS and uses whatever is held there.

What to do:

  • Confirm to the practice that EMMA uses the legal name from the patient's live PDS record
  • Advise the practice that if a patient's name on PDS is incorrect or outdated, the patient should contact the surgery to update their details on the NHS system, which will then reflect in the PDS record
  • Reassure the practice this is not a fault with EMMA. EMMA is using the authoritative NHS source.
  • If the patient's PDS record has been updated and EMMA is still using the old name, this may indicate a PDS sync delay. Advise the practice to allow 24 to 48 hours for the change to propagate before raising a technical concern.

2. EMMA misheard the patient's name during the call

If a patient has an unusual name, a strong regional accent, or gives their name quickly or quietly, EMMA's speech recognition may transcribe it incorrectly. This is separate from the PDS lookup. The misheard name may appear on the form even if PDS returned the correct name.

What to do:

  • Review the call recording to confirm whether EMMA heard the name correctly
  • Check what the patient said versus what appeared in the form submission
  • As of V12 (May 2026), Clear Voice is EMMA's rebuilt speech recognition layer trained specifically on NHS primary care audio, regional accents, and real-world acoustic conditions. This significantly reduces name mishearing compared to earlier versions.
  • If the name was clearly misheard and this is happening repeatedly for a specific patient demographic or accent pattern at a particular surgery, raise a configuration request for demographic-specific tuning

3. EMMA read back the name incorrectly and the patient did not catch or correct it

Before 1 May 2026, names and details could be read back too quickly, making it difficult for patients to catch errors. As of 1 May 2026, the read-back is delivered clearly and at a measured pace.

What to do:

  • Check the call recording to confirm whether EMMA read the name back correctly
  • If the read-back was correct but the patient did not correct it, EMMA's process was working as intended
  • If the read-back itself was incorrect, check whether this occurred before or after 1 May 2026
  • If occurring after 1 May 2026, escalate to engineering with the call ID

4. The Caller ID list contains an outdated name

If a surgery has uploaded a Caller ID patient list and the list was generated before a patient's name change, the Caller ID feature may pre-populate an old name before the PDS check runs.

What to do:

  • Confirm whether the surgery has Caller ID enabled and when the patient list was last uploaded
  • If the Caller ID list is outdated, request a refreshed patient list upload from the surgery
  • Remind the practice that Caller ID is designed to speed up the initial match, and PDS validation still runs on every call regardless. The PDS-verified name is the one that appears on the final form submission.
  • If the Caller ID pre-population is overriding the PDS name on form submissions, escalate to engineering as this is not expected behaviour

5. The wrong name appeared on an Accurx form submission

For Accurx surgeries, PDS-verified patients now display in the format: Surname, First Name (NHS Number) as of February 2026. Non-PDS-verified patients continue to display with their name in the standard format without an NHS number.

What to do:

  • Confirm whether the patient was PDS-verified during the call
  • Check the call recording to confirm what name the patient gave and what PDS returned
  • If the name on the form does not match either what the patient said or what PDS returned, escalate to engineering with the call ID and the affected enquiry ID

6. A patient called on behalf of someone else and their name was used instead

Occasionally a family member or carer calls on behalf of a patient. If EMMA collects the caller's name rather than the patient's name, the wrong name may appear on the submission.

What to do:

  • Review the call recording to confirm what the patient and caller said
  • Check whether the caller made clear they were calling on behalf of someone else
  • If EMMA correctly identified the caller as a carer and still used the caller's name instead of the patient's name, escalate to engineering with the call ID
  • If the caller did not make this clear, explain to the practice that EMMA collects the name of the person speaking unless instructed otherwise

Step-by-Step Triage Process

  1. Ask the practice to describe the issue precisely. Whose name appears on the form? What name should appear? Is the incorrect name from EMMA's speech recognition, from PDS, or from the Caller ID list?
  2. Review the call recording. Confirm what the patient said when asked their name and what EMMA read back.
  3. Check the PDS lookup result for that call. Was the patient PDS-verified? What name did PDS return?
  4. Check whether the surgery has Caller ID enabled and whether the patient list is up to date.
  5. If the PDS record itself holds the wrong name, advise the practice that the patient needs to update their NHS record directly.
  6. If the name was misheard and Clear Voice did not catch it, note the accent and demographic and consider whether a tuning request is appropriate.
  7. If the read-back was incorrect or the wrong name appeared on an Accurx form without explanation, escalate to engineering.

What to Tell the Practice

Example wording when the PDS record holds an old name:

"EMMA uses the name held on your patient's NHS record through the Personal Demographics Service, which is the live NHS database. If a patient has recently changed their name and the change has not yet been updated on the NHS system, EMMA will use the previous name. The patient would need to contact the surgery to update their details, which will then update the PDS record EMMA reads from."

Example wording when a name was misheard:

"EMMA reads back every patient's details during the call to give them the opportunity to correct any errors. If the name appeared incorrectly on the form, it is possible the patient did not catch the error during the read-back. We have reviewed the call recording and can confirm what was collected. Our V12 speech recognition update has significantly improved name accuracy across all patient demographics and accents."

Common Mistakes

  • Telling the practice EMMA stores patient name data independently of PDS. EMMA uses live PDS data for every call.
  • Telling a practice the patient's old name is EMMA's fault when the PDS record has not been updated.
  • Not checking whether Caller ID is enabled before investigating name recognition issues.
  • Not reviewing the call recording before advising the practice on the cause.
  • Treating a PDS sync delay as a platform fault.
  • Not flagging to the practice that patients should update their NHS records directly if their name has changed.

Escalation Guidance

Escalate to engineering if:

  • The Caller ID pre-population is overriding the PDS-verified name on form submissions
  • The read-back contained an incorrect name after 1 May 2026
  • An incorrect name appeared on an Accurx submission and cannot be explained by the patient's verbal input or the PDS lookup result
  • A patient's updated PDS name is still not being used after 48 hours following the name change being applied to the NHS record
  • Name misrecognition is occurring consistently for a specific patient demographic or surgery despite Clear Voice being active

When escalating, always include:

  • Surgery name and ODS code
  • Consultation tool used
  • Affected call ID and timestamp
  • Description of the name that appeared versus what was expected
  • Whether the patient was PDS-verified during the call
  • Whether Caller ID is enabled for that surgery
  • What the call recording shows

Last Reviewed: May 2026 Owner: Support and Customer Success