Introduction

Eleanor Cross Healthcare is a dual-site GP practice with just over 19,000 registered patients in and around Northampton.

Eleanor Cross were previously using Doctorlink as their online consultation provider; Doctorlink was decommissioned across the NHS in December 2022. We first met the Eleanor Cross practice manager Mark at an autumn conference, where the team had visited other suppliers’ stands, but agreed Anima “by far stood out as the one to suit our needs”.

Implementation

Eleanor Cross’ Anima account manager worked with the practice team and the local Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) on technical setup for deploying Anima, and liaised with the ICS to secure a seamless transition of funding from the practice’s prior Doctorlink contract to Anima.

Practice training for ~70 practice staff was conducted over 2 weeks in November 2022 ahead of launching in December 2022.

Key outcomes post-launch

• Average number of requests resolved per week: 900

• Time for 40-50 new appointments each day—a whole afternoon clinic, equivalent 1-2 FTE

• ‍66% decrease in frontline clinical staff required for managing requests

• Average weekly requests submitted:‍

  • Pre-Anima: ~350 (May 2022)

  • Post-Anima: ~1,000 (January 2023)

• Average time to resolve patient request:

  • Pre-Anima: 72 hours

  • Post-Anima: < 24 hours

• Staff required to manage patient requests:

  • Pre-Anima: 3

  • Post-Anima: 1

Testimonials

"Of all the options we looked at, by far Anima was the one we thought was the best to suit our needs."
Practice Manager

"Without a doubt our nurses are more confident booking patients straight into our minor illnesses appointments because of the information Anima has collected."
‍Practice Manager

"Best service I have received from the practice in a number of years."
Patient

"Request was read within 30 minutes and appointment arranged for same day. No more waiting on the phone for 40 mins to be confronted with an obstructive receptionist who can’t give you an appointment- hoorah. Thank you for improving the service."
‍Patient

"It was very quick with the treatment action plan put in place… I wasn't expecting it to be so quick and helpful. So very surprised but happy at the outcome thank you."
‍Patient

"It was quick and easy. Much better than staying on the phone 45 minutes until someone replies."
‍Patient

"Fast service, very easy to use and had a appointment same day, 5."
‍Patient

"Seen within 45 minutes of contacting via this service."
‍Patient

"Signposted me easily to my symptoms & then asked relevant set of questions which were easy to follow. My request was answered within a few hours."
‍Patient

"Amazingly quick."
‍Patient

"I cannot speak on a phone due to a disability, so using Anima helped a lot."
‍Patient

"Had a call back and appointment for smear test booked very quickly, I have been trying over the phone to rebook for months and was always told over the phone there were no appointments for smear tests."
‍Patient

"You replied very quickly and made an appointment for my son in less than one hour."
‍Patient

"Service is excellent - received a call within 15 minutes of submitting my query. Excellent service - many thanks."
‍Patient