Progress-note redaction is the removal of personal data from a clinician's daily notes. It meets DPA 2018 and the NHS Confidentiality Code before reuse. anonym.plus finds and swaps the identifiers on your device, so the medical text stays useful.
When this applies
Daily notes are dense free text, written fast. They often hold the name, room, and family details inline. You want to reuse them for review or training, safely.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Load one note or a whole folder into anonym.plus on your device.
- The tool scans the text for names, dates, places, and contacts.
- Drug names, anatomy, and findings stay untouched; only identifiers get flagged.
- Confirm the flagged items, then redact or swap them.
- Save the clean file with no network call.
What you need to provide
- Notes as TXT, DOCX, PDF, or pasted text.
- An operator: Redact for audit trails, Replace for teaching copies.
- Optional allow-list to keep your own terms.
Patient data entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Names | PERSON | Dr. Okafor / Aisha Khan → [NAME] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | POD 2, 14 Mar → [DATE] |
| Location | LOCATION | Ward 4B, Bed 12 → [LOCATION] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | a.khan@example.com → [EMAIL] |
| Record IDs | MEDICAL_RECORD_NUMBER | MRN 220914 → [MRN] |
| Relatives | PERSON | spouse Thomas → [RELATIVE] |
Compliance achieved
- Meets DPA 2018 and the NHS Confidentiality Code for reuse.
- No cloud step, so the note stays inside your organisation.
- On-device AES-256-GCM guards the working files.
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Limitations & cautions
Free text varies a lot. Short forms and misspelled names can slip past once in a while. Always check the flags before you export, above all on handwritten notes that OCR turned into text, where letter errors are common.
Frequently asked questions
How does this differ from full anonymisation?
Redaction pulls the personal data you pick to meet the DPA 2018 minimum-necessary principle. Full anonymisation removes all direct and indirect identifiers so the file leaves UK GDPR scope under Recital 26. Use full anonymisation when the data must be reused freely.
Will redaction hurt the clinical meaning?
No. Identifiers go, but the diagnosis, drugs, doses, and plan stay. The note is still useful for review.
Can I run a whole shift of notes at once?
Yes. Point anonym.plus at a folder and it works through each note on your device.