Before you start
For a transfer to work, all of the following must be true:
The patient already has an Anima account
They are registered with your practice on PDS (NHS demographics)
You're logged into the correct Anima organisation
If PDS still shows the patient at their old practice, the transfer may fail, or they may continue to appear as "registered elsewhere" even after you try.
How to transfer a patient
Open Patient Search in the left-hand menu
Search by NHS number or email
If the patient has an Anima account at another practice, you'll see the message:
This patient has an Anima account but is registered at another GP practice!
Click Transfer patient to your practice
Confirm by typing transfer
You should see Patient transferred
Search for the patient again afterwards to confirm — they should now show under your practice.
Transferring from Create request
You can also transfer a patient while creating a clinical proxy request. If your search finds an Anima account registered at another organisation, the same Transfer patient to your practice button will appear there too.
If the patient has no Anima account
There's nothing to transfer. Instead:
Create or verify them as a new patient (for example, via Create request / clinical proxy), or
Ask them to register with your practice directly in the patient app
If the patient wants to do it themselves
Patients can update their own practice link in the Anima app:
Settings → I've changed my GP practice → update their details → choose the new practice → save
Anima will re-check PDS as part of this process.
Important note
Transferring a patient only moves their Anima organisation link. It does not change their GP registration in EMIS or SystmOne — that must already be done (or in progress) through your normal registration process.
