What's changing
We're upgrading the way Anima books appointments into your EMIS appointment book. Up until now, Anima has used GP Connect to read your slots and write bookings. We're moving to a direct integration with EMIS Partner API, which:
Pulls your slots more reliably and keeps them fresher — refreshed every 5 minutes whenever Anima is open.
Lets clinicians book appointments even when EMIS isn't open on their machine.
Removes the extra GP Connect rota setup steps that were previously needed before slots became bookable.
The experience inside Anima looks and feels exactly the same — same screens, same click paths.
Existing booking links sent out to patients will still be available
Any self-book links Anima has already sent out to patients will continue to work through GP Connect. Only new links sent after your switchover will use the new Appointments experience.
Appointments API Settings
New settings will become available under Settings > Organisation Settings > Appointments.
From here, users can:
Hide particular slot types or staff from being bookable via Anima.
Establish a link between a particular sign-off with the presets that the sign-off link is relevant to.
Making the switch to Appointments API
(1) Request the switch
The new Appointments experience is enabled per-practice by the Anima team — there's no toggle inside the app. To get switched over:
Email your Anima representative, or [email protected], to register interest.
We'll agree a switchover day with you (we usually select afternoons Monday-Thursday as they are quieter practice hours).
Complete the prerequisite checks following the switch over.
On the day, your Anima contact will flip the feature on remotely and you can confirm completion.
GPAD Check
You may have already setup GPAD with a keyword (found in Settings > Org Settings > Practice Settings > Triage Slots > Book Anima requests into triage appointment slots). If this is ticked and there is a keyword used to book into GPAD slots, it's very important to know that this GPAD keyword will now be checked across all your appointment slots, not just those that are GP Connect Bookable. If the GPAD keyword is something more generic (i.e. anima), then we'd recommend changing it to something more specific (i.e. animaGPAD) to ensure that only the slot types you want booked in by GPAD to be entered.
On the day switch over
Your Anima representative will turn on the new Appointments experience for your practice. Once we've flipped it on, please complete these steps from your scheduled switchover. The most common reason day-one issues happen is one of these being missed.
1. Re-activate Anima in EMAS Manager
One person at the practice with EMAS Manager access needs to:
Open EMAS Manager → Partner API → Anima.
Click Deactivate, then immediately Reactivate.
Confirm there are no red Xs in the permissions list.
Full walkthrough: How to activate EMIS Partner API on your Anima desktop application.
3. Make sure every Anima user has completed Partner API setup
Every user who uses Anima needs to:
Open Anima → Settings → User Settings.
Enter their EMIS username and password.
Click Save, then Test.
The test should show Success and the connection status should read EMIS+.
This should've been completed at platform access, but worth confirming. If any user hasn't done this, after switchover they'll see the error "Enhanced appointments service needs partner api" when they try to book an appointment.
4. Make sure Anima desktop is up to date
We've released a desktop app update that powers the new appointments experience. It should update automatically when we've made the switch over, you may just need to exit Anima entirely and re-open and re-login.
How to confirm it's working
After you've closed and reopened Anima, run this quick test:
Open any patient → Actions → Appointments.
Check the header at the top of the booking modal. It should read Appointments — not Appointments – GPConnect. If you still see GPConnect, close and reopen Anima again.
Search for slots. You should see slots appearing that may not have been visible under GP Connect.
Book a test appointment into a non-clinical slot to confirm the booking writes through to EMIS successfully.
Open the same slot in EMIS to verify the booking has landed.
If all four steps work, you're live. 🎉
Troubleshooting
"Appointments – GPConnect" is still showing at the top of the booking modal. Either your practice hasn't been switched over yet, or Anima needs to be closed and reopened. Contact your Anima representative if it persists.
"Failed to search for slots." Open EMAS Manager → Partner API → Anima and confirm green tick. Also check in Anima for Settings > Personal Settings > Test the EMIS credentials.
"Enhanced appointments service needs partner api." The user seeing this error hasn't completed Partner API setup. Follow the Partner API article above for that user, then have them close and reopen Anima.
A patient's self-book link isn't offering slots. Confirm the practice has appointment slots set up for the date range Anima is offering, and that any GPAD keyword configured in Anima's Organisation Settings doesn't overlap with names used in your EMIS rotas.
Anything else. Message your Anima contact — we're keeping a close eye on every practice for the first couple of weeks after switchover.