Improving the quality of address updates

We are testing improvements to the way we store address updates in the Personal Demographics Service (PDS).

When you notify PDS of an address change, it will identify if this is an actual address update. An actual address update is a change to the substance of the data in the address, such as a change in postcode. If it's an actual update, PDS will apply it as normal.

A change is not an actual address update when all that is being changed is the casing of the address lines, for example. PDS will filter this update out and keep the address as it is.

These changes will affect updates coming from all systems that integrate with PDS. We designed the filtering to be ‘silent’, meaning that it will not harm systems that integrate with PDS.

Filtering out these updates will mean:

• the address history on PDS records will be cleaner, as all address updates will be substantive updates
• health and care staff can sync their local version with PDS less often, reducing their admin burden

For more information and to offer feedback, contact [email protected].