Routine-only mode allows your practice to keep accepting online requests, but limits patients to routine requests only — blocking new or urgent problems. It's primarily a patient-facing change; staff continue working requests in the clinics app as normal.
When does routine-only mode activate?
Routine-only mode switches on automatically in two situations:
1. After your routine cut-off time You can set a cut-off time for each day of the week in Organisation Settings → Access and request limits → Routine request cut-off times. Once that time passes (e.g. 3:00 pm), your practice moves into routine-only mode for the rest of the day. Your normal closure time still applies separately.
2. When your daily limit is reached If you have "Allow patients to submit routine medical requests when the daily limit is reached" enabled (Anima Pro), patients can still submit routine requests once capacity is full, rather than being blocked entirely. Without this setting, hitting the daily limit blocks all online medical requests.
There is no manual toggle to turn routine-only mode on — it activates automatically based on the rules above.
What changes for patients?
| Normal mode | Routine-only mode |
Urgent / new problems | Accepted (within limits and opening hours) | Blocked — patients are advised the practice is not taking urgent requests |
Routine requests | Available as normal | Still accepted |
Request types shown | All enabled modules | Only the types you've enabled under Manage content → Routine-only mode request types |
Questionnaire flow | Standard medical flow | Includes extra screening and acknowledgement steps |
Patients in routine-only mode will see a message explaining that options are limited and directing them to call 111 (or 999 in an emergency) if they need to be seen today.
What do staff see?
Requests submitted during routine-only mode are marked as routine in the clinics app. You can filter these on the home grid using the Routine only or Non-routine only filters. The workflow for handling them is the same as any other request.
What can practices configure?
Cut-off times — set per day (Monday–Sunday) in Organisation Settings
Allow routine when daily limit is reached — Anima Pro feature; without it, hitting the limit blocks all medical requests
Routine-only request types — choose which modules remain available (e.g. repeat prescriptions, fit notes) under Manage content → Routine-only mode request types
Screening and acknowledgement text — customisable in Manage content when routine-on-limit is enabled
In summary
Routine-only mode means your practice is not accepting urgent or new online requests right now, but patients can still submit pre-approved routine request types such as repeat prescriptions or admin tasks. This happens either because it's past your cut-off time, or because you've reached your daily capacity with the routine-on-limit setting enabled.