There are four common reasons a clinician can't sign off (Finalise) a request: your account isn't linked to your clinical system, the button itself is disabled, a check during sign-off stops the process, or there's a permissions/billing issue. Use the sections below to work out which one applies.
1. Your Anima account isn't linked to EMIS/SystmOne
This is one of the most common causes, and worth checking first if you can't sign off at all.
Fix:
Go to Settings > User settings > Personal details.
Enter your EMIS/SystmOne username in the relevant box and click Save.
Once saved, click Test — you should see a message confirming your accounts have been successfully linked.
Once linked, you'll be able to sign off requests.
2. The Finalise button is greyed out
What you'll see | Likely cause |
Tooltip: "Cannot do this until the patient has been confirmed" | Patient hasn't been fully verified |
Finalise greyed out, no tooltip | The request has already been closed |
Finalise greyed out | The request is still loading, or failed to load |
If it's a verification issue, this is usually one of:
An unregistered patient hasn't been confirmed against PDS
A phone number hasn't been verified when required
The patient is registered at a different practice
Fix: confirm or verify the patient first, or force-close the request if that's permitted.
3. Sign-off starts but then stops
Once you click Finalise, Anima runs a series of checks. Any of the following can pause or cancel the process:
SMS/free limit reached - the practice has used its inclusive SMS allowance and has no valid payment method on file. This is a hard stop until billing is updated.
Patient not found in EHR - you'll need to confirm a force-close, or cancel.
Patient hasn't accepted the plan yet - confirm an override/force-close, or wait for the patient to accept.
Invalid sign-off actions - the selected plan or actions failed validation.
Attachments folder (SystmOne) - the folder is missing or you don't have permission. You can cancel or continue without attachments.
EHR not configured - missing EHR type, org info, or username. You can continue with copy-paste only if you confirm.
Clicking Cancel on any of these confirmation dialogs will also stop sign-off.
4. Role or access issues
Your role needs the "Sign off requests" permission for that request type (medical and/or admin) - check under Access and permissions.
The backend also requires the
postSignOffpermission for your organisation. If this is missing, you'll see an Unauthorised error.
5. Sign-off completes, but saving to the record fails
Occasionally the clinical sign-off itself succeeds, but filing the record fails afterwards - which can look like Finalise failed even though nothing was wrong with the plan. Common causes:
Trying to save to SystmOne (desktop-only) from the browser
The attachments folder or file is locked (error:
403or "cannot open file")An invalid letter type in SystmOne
The record is locked, or SystmOne isn't open
Quick troubleshooting checklist
Can't sign off at all, no obvious error? → Check your EMIS/SystmOne account is linked (Settings > User settings > Personal details).
Is Finalise greyed out? → Check verification status, whether the request is closed, or whether it's still loading.
Seeing an SMS or payment error? → Ask an admin to update billing.
Seeing "Unauthorised"? → Check role permissions.
Error appears after confirming a dialog? → Check EHR configuration, attachments folder, or letter type.
Most common day-to-day blocker: the patient hasn't been fully verified yet, closely followed by an unlinked EMIS/SystmOne account.