Our students were addressing the patients on my ward by their first names. I talked with them and said "All people older than you should be addressed by their title and surname unless they specifically ask you to call them by their first name... @EdinUniMedicine @NHSLothianMedEd

...They were puzzled by this and said that it is a term of endearment and familiarity. I disputed this, saying that it whiffs of paternalism. I asked them what they would call their friend's grandmother if they went to their house - Emily, or Mrs Jones... @RCPEdinTrainees

...."But it is different in hospital". "Why?"...."Erm....They are here as patients". Exactly why they need to be treated with even more dignity. It is also not right, in my opinion to ask a patient/person what they want to be called..... @NHS_Lothian

... I introduce myself as Conor Maguire, call them by their surname, and continue to do so if and until the person themselves offers to be addressed by their first name.....

...One of my first, and saddest, memories of the importance of using the correct form of address was when my 90 yo grandmother was in hospital. She had dementia. The staff called her 'Mary' but no-one, apart from her parents, had ever called her Mary...

...She was 'Cissy' to her friends and husband, 'Ma' to her children, and Mrs Mahon to all people younger than her. She was bewildered by the use of 'Mary'. As soon as people started calling her by her surname again, she perked up and responded normally.