Some patients cannot create their own Anima account, or prefer not to. Others may still phone or visit the practice.
You can manage these requests in Anima by submitting a clinical proxy request on their behalf (sometimes called an “e-lite”).
Before you start:
The patient must either already have an Anima account at your practice, or you will need to create one for them first.
If the patient is not verified, you will not be able to begin the request until verification is complete (see Patient verification at the end of this article).
Have the patient’s NHS number ready. If you do not know it, you can search by name in your EHR (EMIS or SystmOne), where this is enabled.
Step 1: Click Create Request
On your Anima dashboard, click Create request in the top-right of the screen. This will open a form which will allow you to submit a request on behalf of a patient.
Step 2: Find the patient’s account in Anima
The first screen in the form will ask you to find the patient’s Anima account. There are two ways to do this.
Option A:
Select ‘I know the patient's NHS number’, enter the NHS number and click Search.
Option B:
Select Search by name in EMIS (or SystmOne, depending on your EHR).
If you belong to multiple practices, select the correct practice from the dropdown.
Enter the patient’s first name, surname, and/or date of birth.
For SystmOne, you must provide at least two search fields (for example, surname and date of birth).
For EMIS, searches are case-sensitive.
Click Search. If multiple results appear, select the correct patient from the dropdown.
Step 3: Review the search result
If the patient has an Anima account:
You will see confirmation of this on the screen along with their details (name, D.O.B., NHS number, contact details, and registered practice).
Before you continue, check for any messages on the screen:
Active requests: If the patient already has open requests, these are listed. If they are at their personal request limit, Begin Request will be disabled.
No email address: If the patient has no email, a warning appears. Confirm their phone number is correct and that the practice will contact them by telephone about the outcome. They will not receive communication from Anima.
Not verified: If the patient is not verified, you will see a message asking you to verify them first. Click Go to Verification Page, complete verification, then return and search again.
Different organisation: If the patient’s account is registered at another practice, you can click Transfer patient to your practice to move them before continuing.
When you are ready, click Begin Request.
If the patient does not have an Anima account:
You will be prompted to create a new patient account. Please see this article for instructions. When the account is created you’ll be able to return to this form and click Begin Request.
Step 5: Complete the Form
Choose the request type:
After clicking begin request you will be asked to choose what type of request you’d like to submit. You can choose one of: Admin, Medical or Simple Query.
Confirm the disclaimer:
At the start of Medical, Admin, and Simple query requests, the first screen explains that Anima is not suitable for urgent requests.
Click I understand to confirm you have read this to the patient and that they agree to continue.
Work through the questions:
Take the patient through each questionnaire question on screen over the phone or in person. These are designed to gather the information the practice needs to put together a management plan. Please note that you can't upload photos on their behalf.
Submit the form:
Click Confirm to submit. The request appears on your dashboard like any other patient request, marked as a clinical proxy submission.