The care you need, when you need it
Anima is a communication platform that allows you to seek care from Island City Practice. When you have an issue that you want to contact your GP about, you can use Anima to submit your request online. It is integrated into your medical record and in the NHS App, so you can quickly submit a request by answering a few questions and get a timely response which you can see in real-time by using your account.
Anima allows our clinical triage team to continue to improve access times by helping us to direct you to the most appropriate care for your medical needs. This ensures we make use of our limited resources in the most safe and efficient way. Don’t worry, all appointments will continue to be offered according to clinical urgency and need. Your request will be handled in the same manner whether you complete the Anima request online yourself, or contact us via telephone, where our receptionists will ask the same questions to ensure equity of access for all patients.
We would encourage all patients who can do so to use Anima, as this will prevent you needing to queue on the telephone and keep lines free for those who do not have internet access. Completing an Anima request yourself also provides you with more discretion should you prefer not to discuss your medical problem with one of our receptionists.
We would like to ask for your patience whilst we change to Anima as we are aware that introducing any new system may have some teething troubles, however we are not anticipating any disruption.
We are really excited about this change and the benefits it will bring to all our patients and staff.
What are the benefits to you as a patient?
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 will be asked questions based on your issues (asked without medical jargon)
- You can use the system in a number of languages.
- Your medical records will be more complete for the future.
- The practice responses will be clearer.
- You will receive a text message, a push notification 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.
What are the benefits to the practice?
- We will see your request in a clear structured format.
- We will be 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.
- As patients can see the status of their request, we should get less duplicates that clog up the system.
- Your requests will be cleared to understand at first glance and so the team will be able to allocate correct people, thus making our 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. These responses will be safer as well as it will be secured behind a log in.
FAQs
What are the opening times for Anima?
We aim to have Anima open from 8:00am – 6:30pm every weekday. Occasionally we may have to close Anima early, see below for more details.
Why Is Anima closed?
On some days, demand for a GP appointment far outweighs the safe capacity we can provide. On these days, we may have to turn anima off early because we are full. If you have an emergency in these situations, please call the reception team who will be happy to help. Remember there are also out of hours services when we are closed, please phone 111 to get help when you need it.
How soon will I hear back?
We aim to respond to all queries the same day. Some more routine queries may take us a few days to get back to you. You can always check the status of your query via your Anima dashboard.
What happens if I can’t access the internet or don’t feel confident using it?
Our reception team are always happy to help. They can submit requests for you and can call you back to inform you of the outcome of your request and book you in for the necessary appointment. You can also drop in the surgery and fill out on online request at the Anima computer terminal in reception at Lake Road, Sunnyside or John Pounds.
Why have we changed to Anima?
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 digital triage is also to avoid the “8am rush” that has become a problem for many. This approach is supported by NHS England who are spearheading the improvement of digital access to primary care.
Can I use Anima to request a repeat prescription?
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 or use our website.
Can I book nurse appointments through Anima?
You can certainly use Anima to request nurse appointments, but these can also be booked by calling reception in the usual way. The only appointments that should be requested through Anima are GP appointments.
Is Anima an App?
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.
Anima Privacy Policy
For patients whose GP practice uses Anima to manage and process online consultations, Anima acts as a ‘data processor’ on behalf of your GP practice. This means that we only process personal data to the extent that is required for your GP practice to provide you with the care that you need. When you submit a request through Anima, your personal data is not shared with any third parties, nor are you subject to any advertising when using Anima.
Some clauses in our privacy policy only apply to users of our website, and this is so we can account for advertising services and cookies that may be present in users’ browsers.
Anima is certified to NHS and UK government standards for data security and information governance: all data processed through Anima is secure (encrypted) both in transit (when it is sent) and at rest (when it is received), and all data is stored in the UK. No patient data is shared outside the UK.