Anima - Frequently Asked Questions

Changes to patient access from 31^st of October 2023

Questions and answers

1.   What is the change?

There are some new and helpful technical solutions that we are going to use at Dean Cross to make it easier to receive the help you need.  This system is called Anima.

Patients can access Anima on their phone, their PC and their tablet. It is known as an online consultation.  Many of the things that you contact the practice for by phone or in person, can be done through Anima.

These technical solutions have been used successfully in other GP practices in Plymouth. They have worked well for their patients, and we are confident that they will work well for Dean Cross patients.

2.   Why are we making this change?

We know that many patients find it challenging at times to access services at Dean Cross.  The practice wants to offer you a good and safe level of service but we can't do this by continuing with the current ways of accessing services. 

Our patient numbers have stayed about the same at 10,100 in the last 10 years but there is a national shortage of GPs which is why we need to change the way we work. As a practice we have access to different clinical specialist professionals and your health maybe better supported by an alternative member of the team.

There is no quick-fix to the GP shortage so we have to work in a different way.  The aim is to make it easier to:

• Submit requests to the practice
• Ensure that requests are seen by the most appropriate member of staff
• Deal with requests in an appropriate timeframe.

Importantly, appointments will be prioritised according to clinical need and not by who contacts the surgery first. Our local Primary Care Network partner, Church View Surgery, has now been using this system very successfully for several months, with positive feedback from patients.

3.   What will the benefits be?

The benefits include:

• Easier access – it should only take a couple of minutes to fill out your information
• Your request will be seen by the right person in the practice – all clinical queries will be seen by a clinician
• Your request will be responded to by the right person in the practice
• You can send your online request over whenever you want to, Monday to Friday
• The phone lines will be freed up for the most poorly patients.
• You can track the progress of your request.

​4.   What if I do not have access to the internet or struggle to complete forms?

We know you may have questions about how the new system will work and worries about the effect it will have on your care.  If you need support to complete the online request, please be reassured that you can still telephone us and our team will fill in a form on your behalf.

5.   Does this mean I won’t see a GP anymore?

​Not at all; completing the form online is just a preliminary way of collecting information to ensure you are seen by the right person, at the right time, first time.  You may still be contacted by a GP or it could be another person from the practice who can better meet your needs. 

6.   Can reception make me an appointment instead?

​From 31^st October 2023, whether you visit in person or contact us by phone, the receptionists will not be able to book you a routine doctor’s appointment. They will assist you to complete the online form if you need help, but this will only be possible ‘in-person’ in exceptional circumstances.

7.   If the receptionist will not make an appointment, how does the patient get an appointment on the day if they say they need to see a doctor as they are unwell?

​Our clinical team will look at the information that you’ve provided and be able to determine the urgency of the request.  Patients assessed by a clinician as needing an urgent on-the day appointment  will be offered one.

​8.   How long will it take to fill in the form?

​For medical queries it will take around 5 minutes and for administrative or simple issues it is even shorter.  Examples of administration issues are to ask about recent tests, to get a repeat prescription, to ask about a fit (sick) note or to provide change of contact details such as a mobile phone number.

9.   How long will it take to hear from the practice?

​We aim to…..

​Respond to your medical request with the next steps for your care which could be to book an appointment with a clinician in the practice

• Respond to straightforward medication and prescription requests within 4 working days and more complex ones within 5 working days
• Respond to administrative requests the same working day where possible

​The surgery will contact you by text, email or phone call based on your preference.

10.   If the doctor doesn’t call me about a clinical issue, then who else will?

​Dean Cross Surgery now has a number of additional health professionals working alongside our GPs and nurses. These include Clinical Pharmacists, First Contact Physiotherapists, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Older Persons Integrated Care teams, Mental Health Practitioners, Health & Well Being Coaches and Social Prescribers/Community Connectors.

​Your request will go to the most appropriate clinician in the team and they will come back to you as quickly as possible.

11.   I don’t feel comfortable telling reception about my medical issue

​Please be assured that anything you discuss with a receptionist will be treated with absolute privacy and respect. All Dean Cross Surgery staff, including receptionists, are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement, meaning anything you discuss with them will not be shared outside of the practice and within it, only with the staff involved in your care.

12.   What happens to a request that I send overnight or at the weekend?

​The online form is available from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. For patient safety, the form is not available during evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays.

13.   How can I request repeat medication?

​We ask that your make your repeat prescription requests using the one of the following methods (You may have your own arrangements in place with a local pharmacy).  We will respond to straightforward medication and prescription requests within 4 working days and more complex ones within 5 working days

• Order online - using Systmonline or preferably through the NHS app
• Via paper repeat slip if the online method is not suitable and there are no other options - this can be dropped into the surgery letter box or via your nominated pharmacy.  The paper option is the least preferred option as it creates more paper, is ‘less green’ and can take longer to process
• Through submitting a new ‘Repeat prescription’ admin query online.

Please note:

• We do not accept routine prescription request over the telephone, our reception team will ask you to place any routine requests via the methods outlined above.
• We will not respond to any routine prescription requests sent via AccuRx unless we require further information.

14.   Can I request an appointment on behalf of someone else?
 

Yes, you can submit the form on behalf of the patient (although please write on the form that you are doing so) and you can put the contact number that we should either contact the patient or their representative on. Please note that due to patient confidentiality we cannot discuss anything about one of our patients unless they have explicitly given permission for us to do so.

15.   Will my request be saved to my record?

​Any request you submit about a medical issue will be saved to your record so that whoever calls you or sees you about your problem has your information to hand. If you send us a question about an administrative issue, we will only save this to your record if we think it would be helpful to do so (or if you ask us to).

16.   Will this disadvantage me or my elderly or vulnerable relative?
 

For those with access to a mobile phone or internet, the new online form will be a more convenient way to contact the practice, which should free up our phone lines for those in greatest need and those who cannot access the internet for whatever reason. If you or your relative cannot use the form please contact us on the phone and we will help you with your request.

17.  Under the existing system, patients spend a significant time waiting on the phone. If the receptionist is helping patients to complete a form it suggests that the waiting time on the phone will be even longer?

​We will encourage the patients who can use the online form on their phone/tablet/computer to do so, and to release the phone lines to the ones who might struggle with technology or may need our reception team’s help because of other issues.

From 31^st of October, the go-live date, we will have more staff on the phones as we know the change will take a while to bed in.

 

Published: Oct 4, 2023