Board-report patient data removal strips personal data from a governance document. Under Schedule 7, paragraph 10(1) of the NHS Act 2006, an NHS foundation trust's board must hold most of its meetings in public, so board papers often reach a wide audience, including anyone who requests them under FOIA 2000. Section 40(2) of that Act exempts personal data from disclosure, and anonym.plus does the clearing on your own device before the papers go out. The figures and case lessons stay, but no individual or named worker is identifiable.
When this applies
A quarterly pack for a foundation trust board, due to be discussed at a meeting held in public under Schedule 7 of the NHS Act 2006, cites named cases and outcome figures. Once it's published or requested under FOIA, those embedded personal and staff details must come out.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the document in anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads any scanned appendix pages.
- It flags case names, staff names, and exact dates.
- Confirm the flags and keep the aggregate figures.
- Swap each detail for a clear label, or remove it.
- Save the cleaned document. The source stays local.
What you need to provide
- The board document (PDF, DOCX, or slide export).
- An operator (Replace keeps the narrative readable).
- Optional allow-list for KPI and metric labels.
Patient data entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | PERSON | case: T. Marin → [PATIENT] |
| Staff | PERSON | lead: Dr. Yusuf → [STAFF] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | event 11/2025 → [DATE] |
| Record IDs | MEDICAL_RECORD_NUMBER | NHS No. 660 241 3318 → [NHS_NUMBER] |
| Location | LOCATION | Site North → [LOCATION] |
| Identifiers | ID | case ref BR-204 → [CASE_ID] |
Compliance achieved
- Meets the FOIA 2000 s.40(2) personal-data exemption before a board paper reaches a public meeting.
- Supports the public board-meeting duty in Schedule 7, para 10(1), NHS Act 2006 without exposing named cases.
- Runs offline, so no supplier contract is needed.
- Aggregate figures stay, so the document keeps its meaning.
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Limitations & cautions
Aggregate figures are usually safe, but a small-cell count plus a named site can narrow identity. Check low counts and broaden them where needed. A single cited case may also carry a unique clue beyond the obvious identifiers.
Frequently asked questions
Why are board papers subject to public disclosure at all?
Schedule 7, paragraph 10(1) of the NHS Act 2006 requires an NHS foundation trust's board of directors to hold most of its meetings in public, and the papers for that meeting are typically published alongside it. FOIA 2000 s.40(2) then exempts any personal data those papers contain, which is why a named case or a named worker needs to come out first.
Are summary statistics personal data?
Aggregates are usually not personal. But a very small cell, like one case in a tiny unit, can point to a person. Broaden such counts when you remove the named detail.
Are named cases cleared?
Yes. Any case that names an individual or worker is swapped, while the figures and KPI labels around it stay untouched.