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We aim to have Anima open from 7:00am every weekday, with the ability to submit a health concern closing at 5:00pm or when we have reached our maximum safe level. This gives us time to triage health submissions before the practice closes.

Occasionally we may have to close Anima early, see below for more details.

On some days, demand for a GP appointment far outweighs the safe capacity we can provide, and we may have to turn Anima off early because we are full. If you find Anima is closed as we have reached the maximum number of submissions for that day, and your health concern is urgent, please consider using the NHS 111 service, or in an emergency dial 999 or attend A&E.

Please remember that GP surgeries are not an emergency service so we will signpost you to other services within the NHS when appropriate.

Anima will not be available on bank holidays or when the surgery is closed for staff training.

We aim to respond to queries the same day. Some routine queries may take us a few days to get back to you as we will prioritise urgent care.

You can always check the status of your query via your dashboard when you log into your Anima account.

If, when submitting a medical concern, you are advised by Anima that you should seek medical help via 111 or 999, please follow this advice.

We are not an emergency service and your health issue may be better treated by emergency health professionals.

We are notified by Anima when patients amend red-flagged answers in order to submit to the practice.

When you create an account in Anima you will be asked to give your email address and mobile phone number. By giving your mobile number you are consenting to be contacted via a short text to advise when the practice has communicated with you, either as a new contact or in response to your submission. Only by logging into your Anima account will you be able to see the contact/response in full, therefore ensuring complete confidentiality between the practice and yourself.

Anima accounts can be created by patients 16 years and over. Anyone under that age should be “attached” to a parent’s account as a dependent but children over the age of 13 years can be considered for their own account. This consideration is based on guidelines called the “Gillick Competency” where it is recognised that children of a certain age may be mature enough to make decisions about things that affect them.

More information about the Gillick Competency

If you would like to submit Anima requests on behalf of someone else, such as a child or relative, please create an account for yourself first. You can then add dependants to your account from the “Add children / dependants” page when you are logged in.

We would recommend using separate email addresses to sign up to Anima, you can set up a new email address using Outlook or Gmail etc. If you would really like to use the same email address then one person will need to sign up to Anima using the existing email address and add the other person as a dependant. However, we will need written consent from both parties as medical information for one another will be accessible to both users.

Our Reception team are always happy to help.

They are able to submit requests for you via Anima and can text you or call you back to inform you of the outcome of your request and book you in for the necessary appointment.

GP practices are experiencing significant strain with declining GP numbers and increasing demand. Ensuring that patients are seen by the appropriate clinician in the right place and the right time means that patient care and experience is improved, and it reduces pressure on GP practices, allowing GPs to spend their time where it is needed the most. The idea behind a Total Triage is also to avoid the “8am rush” that has become a problem for many. This approach is supported by NHS England who have advised that GP surgeries consider this approach in future.

Currently, the process of requesting medication through Anima is not the easiest way. We would recommend you use the NHS app to request your repeat prescriptions.

You can put your request for non-repeats medications in writing, or come into the surgery to request via the Reception team.

We are looking to expand on what appointment types will become available through Anima.

No, Anima is not an app currently. It can only be accessed through the website. The Anima team are working on integration with the NHS app and we will update you when this has happened.

You can log into Anima using your NHS app login credentials, or create your own unique Anima username and password.

Yes! We would encourage you to contact the Anima’s support team if you have trouble using the website.

As a patient you will benefit from:

• Being able to log on to see the status and outcomes of your current and past requests.
• You can use the system in a number of different languages
• You will be asked questions based on your issues
• Your medical records will be more complete for the future
• The practice responses will be clearer
• You will receive a text message and email to let you know when the practice has responded (no more missing emails in the junk box).
• You can provide all the information that the practice needs without waiting on the phone

As a practice, New Pond Row Surgery will benefit from:

• Seeing your request in a clear structured format
• Being able to save all the information about your requests in a structured way into your medical records – this will help staff when looking at your records for this episode of care or in the future.
• Less duplications of requests
• Your requests will be clearer to understand at first glance meaning we will be able to allocate to the most appropriate members of our team, making the turn-around more efficient.
• Your requests will come into our system with a Red, Amber, Green rating with clear information about what responses have trigger the rating. This will allow the team to focus on any urgent requests.
• We will be able to provide clearer responses due to the way that Anima builds the response as we perform actions.

Anima is approved by NHS Digital to be used by GP practices and the other systems involved in your care. The NHS has a lengthy assurance process to ensure we meet the highest standards of safety and security. Your data is safe and shared only with us for the purposes of your direct care. Your data is stored and sent securely using industry best practices. Only data that is necessary to provide you with care is collected.

We strongly believe that accessing services, advice and guidance this way is much more efficient in comparison to previous models.  It only takes up to 10 minutes to complete an Anima submission and 2-3 minutes for a GP to process.  Research shows that 70% of patient requests can be closed without the need for a face-to-face appointment which means that you may not even have to come to the surgery.  Also, you can access NHS based help via Anima anytime, even outside of surgery hours during the week.