That sort of data can be included in de-identified health data in the U.S. if it can be shown statistically that the individual cannot be re-identified.
> if it can be shown statistically that the individual cannot be re-identified.
A full UK postcode is very specific - not just which street, but which side and end of the street. "date of birth plus postcode" will in almost all cases identify one and only one person. This data is not actually anonymous at all.
The data available won't include that those personal identifiers. At time of extraction, the patient record in the database is assigned a new unique identifier which has nothing to do with the NHS number.
My New Zealand address is meaningless in the US unless you want to find my house. I see patient numbers on things displayed from time to time and wince - interesting case studies etc. I most certainly could find out who the person is. A distinct pathology is probably enough to identify someone in New Zealand if you tried hard enough.
