Anima

We are pleased to announce that from Monday 3^rd November we will be introducing a new online patient contact service called Anima. 

There will be a link to the Anima form on our website that will allow patients to request a medical appointment and submit any enquiry you would normally call us about. Once a form has been submitted, our GP’s and the wider team will triage your request and let you know what you need to do next. 

Please note that from the 3^rd November 2025, we will no longer take appointment bookings over the phone or by visiting the practice, all appointment requests must be made via the online form.

Our Reception Team will support patients to complete the online form over the phone or when visiting the practice for patients;

• ·         Who have a learning disability
• ·         Who are elderly and without internet access or internet enabled device. 

Once the form has been completed by the Receptionist, requests will be handled based on urgency, ensuring fair and timely access to care.

If you feel that you are not able to use the online contact form, please contact reception. 

We will be holding drop in sessions at the Library to support patients to use the form. The dates of these are below. If however you need additional support, please feel free to come into reception with your device where our team can support you. 

Moulton Community Centre drop ins:

-       Monday 6^th October 2025 1-3pm

-       Friday 10^th October 2025 2-4pm

-       Wednesday 22^nd October 2025 2-4pm

When you call our reception team they might ask you additional questions than they have previously. This is so that everyone’s request or query is given with the same level of detail so we can help you more effectively. 

Please note that there will be limited routine appointments available due to the transition and we would ask for your patience during this time.  We sincerely apologise for the delay in obtaining a routine appointment, and we are working very hard to limit this impact.

We thank you for your understanding at this time of change and look forward to continue to providing your healthcare needs. 

Yours Sincerely

The Moulton Surgery Team

What are the benefits of Anima?

• ·         The link will be live from 7:45am Monday-Friday (excluding bank holidays)
• ·         No phone queue waiting times
• ·         When you are feeling unwell and need advice, a GP reviews your request and advises the next steps for you
• ·         The patients that really need to see a GP will get an appointment and the patients that can be seen by another service or clinician will be signposted.
• ·         You will get a documented response with answers to the queries
• ·         The Portal is very easy to use with questions for you to answer with added optional photo attaching

How do I access Anima?

There will be a link on our website you can access. You will also receive an SMS with the link on should you have a mobile number before the service goes live. 

We would suggest that you save this link as a favourite on your internet browser, or as an App on your smartphone apps screen. 

Please be advised there is no downloadable app for Anima, it is all web based and you will no longer be able to contact us via the NHS App.

What are the opening times for Anima?

Anima will be open from 7:45am every weekday (excluding bank holidays and training afternoons), with the ability to submit a health concern closing at 6.30pm 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.

How soon will I hear back?

-       Routine appointment requests and any other general enquiry - We aim to respond to your query the same day. Requests made after 5pm may be responded to the following day

-       Urgent appointment requests - We aim to respond to your query the same day and you will be offered an appointment the same day should you need one. Requests made after 5pm may not be offered an appointment subject to appointment availability, however you will be given alternative advice.  

Anima is telling me to stop submitting my health concern as the system says I have a medical emergency, but I want to submit to the surgery?

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.

Can my children have Anima accounts?

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.

Can we use a shared email address to sign up to Anima?

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.

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.

I don’t want to use Anima, I just want to see a GP

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.