A new online consultation platform called Anima is set to be rolled out across all Lakeside Healthcare practices including St Neots, starting at the end of January 2024 to replace Doctrin.
Anima is already used in over 170 GP practices and by nearly 489,000 patients nationwide.
It has been chosen because of its compatibility with Lakeside Healthcare’s patient record system, how practice staff can assess symptoms and prioritise requests according to clinical urgency and need, and direct patients to the most appropriate care.
Patients using Anima can use a secure online form to share information about their symptoms, ask questions, or follow up on something, instead of calling or visiting the practice in-person.
They can easily track the progress of their request and receive messages via text or email when the practice staff responds.
The platform is designed to be user-friendly, particularly for patients with hearing difficulties or those whose first language is not English.
For each practice, Anima streamlines patient requests, making it easier for practice staff to understand and allocate requests to the most appropriate healthcare professional. All information about patient requests is stored in an organised way in the patient record system.
While the patient experience may feel slightly different, the overall process with Anima remains mostly unchanged compared to Doctrin.
Patients will be able to access Anima by clicking on the option on their practice website, which will replace the Doctrin button.
Following online instructions, patients fill out a form with multiple-choice questions, similar to those a doctor or other healthcare professional might ask during an appointment.
This helps practice staff in assessing symptoms, prioritising patient requests, and offering appropriate advice, treatment, or further assessment.
If a patient needs to be seen by a doctor or other healthcare professional, then an appointment will be arranged.
Patients currently using Doctrin are encouraged to create a new account with Anima to ensure continued online access to their practice.
A Lakeside Healthcare spokesperson said: "Creating an Anima account is simple. Patients with an NHS login can use the same login details used for the NHS App.
"Patients without an NHS login can create an account using their email address.
"All patients who can are encouraged to create an Anima account before the official launch.
"The more patients use the platform, the more phone lines will be available for those who cannot use it and need assistance."
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