Survey de-identification is the removal of personal data from patient feedback, above all the open-text responses. Some of that feedback feeds the NHS Friends and Family Test or the CQC's National Patient Survey Programme, both run under the Care Quality Commission's Health and Social Care Act 2008 powers, and all of it sits under the DPA 2018 & NHS Code of Confidentiality. anonym.plus runs on your device and keeps the scores and themes intact.
When this applies
Open responses to a Friends and Family Test or a national patient survey often name a nurse, a doctor, or the writer’s own case. To share the feedback with wards or feed it into the survey programme, those names come out while the praise or concern stays.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Load the submissions into anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads scanned paper forms first.
- It scans each entry for names, dates, and contacts.
- Confirm the flags and keep the rating fields.
- Swap each named item, or black it out.
- Save the clean output. Source forms stay local.
What you need to provide
- The submissions (CSV, PDF, DOCX, or scan).
- An operator (Replace keeps open text readable).
- Optional allow-list for ward and unit labels.
Patient data entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | PERSON | 'I, Priya Patel, felt…' → [RESPONDENT] |
| Staff | PERSON | 'nurse Tom was kind' → [STAFF] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | 'on 3rd May' → [DATE] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | +44 7700 900151 → [PHONE] |
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | p.patel@example.com → [EMAIL] |
| Location | LOCATION | Ward 9 → [LOCATION] |
Compliance achieved
- Meets the DPA 2018 & NHS Code of Confidentiality for reuse of survey feedback.
- Supports feedback collected for the NHS Friends and Family Test and the CQC National Patient Survey Programme.
- Catches names in free text, where they hide most often.
- Offline work keeps feedback inside your service.
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Limitations & cautions
Open-text responses are the riskiest part. A writer may give a job, a date, or a ward that points to one person after the name goes. Review flagged entries, since an automated pass cannot judge every unique life clue.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CQC National Patient Survey Programme?
It's a set of national surveys the Care Quality Commission runs under its Health and Social Care Act 2008 powers, covering areas like inpatients, maternity, and urgent and emergency care. Free-text comments collected for it, or for the separate Friends and Family Test, need the same de-identification as any other patient feedback.
Are open responses personal data?
They can be. A response that names the writer or a clinician, or gives a unique clue, is personal data and must be cleared before wider sharing.
Do the scores survive?
Yes. Rating and score fields stay untouched. Only the identifying detail buried in the free text changes.