There are three different ways a form can be removed from view in Access Care Planning, and each has a different impact on previously submitted data. Understanding the difference is important before making any configuration changes.
Removing a form from a section
When a form is disassociated from a section in Configuration, all submissions linked to that section become inaccessible in the product. This is the most common cause of submitted forms appearing to disappear.
⚠️ Important: Removing a form from a section makes all previously submitted forms within that section inaccessible. This cannot be undone from within Access Care Planning. If submissions exist, do not remove the form without first raising a support case.
The submitted data is not permanently destroyed at the point of removal, but it cannot be accessed by Tenant Administrators or Branch Administrators without Support intervention. If you have removed a form from a section and need the submissions recovered, raise a support case via the Access Digital Assistant as soon as possible, including the following information:
The service user name or names affected
The name of the form
The name of the section the form was removed from
The approximate date range of submissions you need recovered
Deactivating a form
Deactivating a form is different from removing it from a section. When you deactivate a form via Configuration > Forms, the form can no longer be submitted or edited, but all previously submitted forms remain fully visible on service user records.
Deactivation is the recommended approach when a form is no longer needed but you want to preserve the submission history. See Make a form inactive for steps.
Deleting a section
Deleting a section removes both the section and all submissions within it. As with removing a form from a section, this cannot be undone from within the product. If a section has been deleted accidentally, raise a support case immediately with the details listed above.
Quick reference
Action | Can form be submitted again? | Are previous submissions visible? | Can it be undone without Support? |
Remove form from section | No (until re-associated) | No - submissions become inaccessible | No |
Deactivate a form | No | Yes - all submissions remain visible | Yes - reactivate the form |
Delete a section | No (section no longer exists) | No - submissions are removed | No |
Before removing or deleting
Before removing a form from a section or deleting a section, we recommend checking the following:
Review the service user records in the relevant service to confirm whether submissions exist against this form and section.
If submissions exist and the data needs to be preserved, use Deactivate instead of removing the form from the section.
If the form genuinely needs to be moved to a different section, raise a support case before making the change so the submissions can be preserved or migrated.
📌 Note: The History tab on a service user record shows a log of all form submissions and changes, including deleted or inaccessible forms. If you are unsure whether a form was submitted, check History before concluding the data is lost.