Progress-note redaction is the removal of personal data from a clinician's daily notes before those notes are reused. DPA 2018 s.3(2) defines what is being removed: information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual. The master record itself must stay clear, accurate, and contemporaneous — that is the record-keeping duty in GMC Good Medical Practice, and regulation 17(2)(c) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 says the same for the provider. anonym.plus works on a copy, on your device.
When this applies
Daily notes are dense free text written at speed. They carry the name, the bay, and family detail inline. You want to reuse them for a case review, an audit, or teaching — all secondary purposes, where UK GDPR Art. 5(1)(c) says use no more personal data than the purpose needs.
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 copy 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 clinical 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
- Leaves the master record able to meet the GMC Good Medical Practice duty to keep clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible records.
- Supports reg. 17(2)(c) of the HSCA 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 — an accurate, complete, and contemporaneous record for each service user.
- Applies UK GDPR Art. 5(1)(c) data minimisation to the reuse copy, not to the original.
- Removes what DPA 2018 s.3(2) defines as personal data: information relating to an identifiable living individual.
- Follows the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice and the Caldicott Principles on secondary use.
- On-device AES-256-GCM guards the working files.
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Limitations & cautions
Free text varies a lot. Abbreviations 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. Never redact the master record itself — regulation 17(2)(c) requires it to stay complete.
Frequently asked questions
How does redaction differ from full anonymisation?
Redaction removes the personal data you select, so the file usually stays personal data and stays in UK GDPR scope. Full anonymisation removes every direct and indirect identifier, so no one can reasonably re-identify the person and UK GDPR Recital 26 takes the file out of scope. Choose full anonymisation when the data has to be reusable without further controls.
Should I redact the original note in the EPR?
No. Regulation 17(2)(c) of the HSCA 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires the provider to hold an accurate, complete, and contemporaneous record for each service user, and GMC Good Medical Practice places the same duty on the clinician. Redact an exported copy and leave the record of care intact.
Will redaction hurt the clinical meaning?
No. Identifiers go, but the diagnosis, the drugs, the doses, and the plan stay word for word. The note is still usable for the review, audit, or teaching purpose it was prepared for.