Care-plan anonymisation removes personal data from a plan. Once it is truly anonymous, it is no longer personal data under UK GDPR Recital 26 and falls outside the law. anonym.plus does this on your device and keeps the goals and steps for service design.
When this applies
Plans drive service work and staff training, but they are special-category health data under UK GDPR Art. 9. Make them anonymous and you drop the legal-basis burden for those second uses.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the plan in anonym.plus on a local device.
- It finds patient, carer, and contact identifiers.
- Swap them with the reversible map turned off for true anonymity.
- Confirm no re-link key is left behind.
- Save the clean file on your device.
What you need to provide
- The file (DOCX, PDF, or EPR export).
- Replace with the map off for full anonymity.
- Optional language setting.
Patient data entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Names | PERSON | patient & key worker → [NAME] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | review date → [DATE] |
| Location | LOCATION | home address → [ADDRESS] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | carer phone → [PHONE] |
| NHS Number | UK_NHS | NHS 943 476 5919 → [NHS_NO] |
| Relatives | PERSON | family carer → [CARER] |
Compliance achieved
- True anonymity puts the plan outside scope by UK GDPR Recital 26.
- Strips UK GDPR Art. 9 health identifiers.
- On-device work supports NHS data residency.
Anonymise care plans offline — see plans & start free →
Limitations & cautions
These files hold a lot of personal detail. Even with identifiers gone, a rare mix of illness, place, and support can re-identify. Weigh the residual risk and keep no re-link key before you treat the result as anonymous.
Frequently asked questions
When is a plan truly anonymous under UK GDPR?
When no one can reasonably re-identify it. That means no kept key and low residual risk from the rest of the text. Only then does Recital 26 take it out of scope.
Can I still use the goals and steps?
Yes. The goals and step text stay. Only personal identifiers are removed.
Does it support non-English plans?
Yes. Many languages work, which matters for correct identifier and date checks.