
What is Anima Online Triage?
We are pleased to announce an update to the way our patients can request appointments and other healthcare-related items.
Anima seamlessly and confidentially integrates with your medical record bringing improvements to how you request appointments and how our staff assess your condition.
Anima allows our 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. All appointments will continue to be offered according to clinical urgency and need. By using this triage system, it means that patients will be managed more equitably and effectively, connecting our patients efficiently to the right person for the right service.
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 have advised that GP surgeries consider this approach in future.
For those unable to access online services, you can contact the reception team on 01634 854431 who will be able to fill out the exact same form through Anima for you.
Please Note: Whilst Anima will be available for submitting health concerns Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm, you may find Anima “closed” if the number of submissions by patients exceeds the cap we have in place to ensure we are able to safely manage the workload. Therefore you may have to submit your health concern the following working day. If you find Anima is closed due to reaching 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. Anima will remain available for administrative requests such as prescriptions, requesting sick notes etc. Anima will not be available on bank holidays or when the surgery is closed for staff training.
What are the benefits to me 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 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
What are the benefits to the practice?
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.