The digital front door project: Anima
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Healthwatch Kent evaluated ANIMA, the digital front door to GP services within the West Kent Health and Care Partnership. They obtained feedback from 209 people during the period February to July 2024.
There is a shift towards online booking via ANIMA which is now the most common method for contacting GP surgeries, overtaking traditional phone calls in Phase 1. The most reported waiting time has shifted from ‘a week or more later’ in phase 1 to ‘same day’ in phase 2.
With a 36% increase in Phase 2 for ‘same day’ appointments, ‘next day’ appointments have also increased from 5% in Phase 1 to 21% in Phase 2. Overall, almost half (47%) of the patients rated their experience with ANIMA positively, though 33% reported poor experiences.
General satisfaction with GP services remained high, with 89% of patients expressing a good overall experience. This is a 16% increase post ANIMA implementation. Patient concerns highlighted were faulty triage processes, difficulty in explaining medical problems digitally, loss of personal contact, additional steps required to access services, digital confidence issues among the elderly, and data security.
Suggested improvements included making the system more user-friendly, enhancing appointment scheduling, improving system navigation, and ensuring better accessibility for older patients and those with disabilities.
Staff feedback on ANIMA was mixed. Most felt confident using the system, though it did not significantly reduce their workload or stress levels but reduced the number of calls they now receive.
Benefits noted included better patient detail collection and improved appointment management, yet concerns about system accuracy, increased workload from duplicated tasks, and challenges faced by less patients who are not good with technology were prevalent. Suggestions for improvement by staff focused on inclusivity, system usability and reliability, enhanced training and collaboration, feature enhancements, and better workload management.
The feedback indicates that the Digital Front Door ANIMA has shown promising results in improving appointment accessibility and patient experience. While this initiative intends to improve the current landscape of patient accessibility, its unintended impact such as widening the gap of health inequalities must be taken into consideration through ongoing refinements and enhancement of the system's overall usability and inclusiveness.