How to configure your GP Connect appointments in EMIS – Anima Help & Support Centre

There are 4 steps that must be taken to set up your appointments correctly for GP Connect booking in EMIS:

Create or edit a slot type
Create an organisation group
Set up the clinician role
Create or edit a session

Please follow all the instructions below for these 4 steps.

1. Create or edit a slot type

We need to set up a slot type so that Anima can search for it through GP Connect.

In EMIS, from the "Appointment Book" screen, click on "Appts Config" at the top
Click on "Slot Types" on the left hand menu
Either click on "Add" to create a new slot type or select & amend the slot type you wish to edit

Give the slot type a meaningful name
Ensure "Bookable Slot" is ticked
Select the "Status Type" of the slot (e.g. Face-to-face, telephone, video etc)
Select a colour scheme if you wish
"Allow auto DNA" - this can be ticked or left alone. If ticked, it means that EMIS will automatically DNA the patient if they do not turn up for their appointment
"Send Notification" - this can be ticked or left alone. If ticked, it means that EMIS will use whatever text reminder system your practice has in place to send a reminder for the specific appointment
Assign an icon (e.g. the Globe)
Map the "National Slot Details" as you would when creating a slot normally
Click "Ok" to save these details and then "Ok" again to confirm the configuration

2. Create an organisation group

This is really important for making sure that NHS 111 do not book the appointments we are opening up for GP Connect booking.

If you have previously set up an organisation group for Anima then you can use the same group for all Anima slots you're setting as available for GP Connect booking.

In EMIS, click on the EMIS bubble in the top left
Click "Configuration" and then "Organisation Configuration"
Click "Organisation Groups" in the bottom left corner of the screen
Click "Add"

Name the new group something suitable (e.g. General Practice Anima)
Search for your own GP practice and add it to this group
Click "OK"

3. Set up the clinician role

This step is an important precursor to setting up the session. The clinician who will be "Session holder" must be setup to allow for GP Connect booking.

In EMIS, click on the EMIS bubble in the top left
Click "Configuration" and then "Organisation Configuration"
Click "Users" in the bottom left corner of the screen
Click "Search" at the top of the page
Find the user that you want to assign this session to
Select the user
Click on "Role"

Make sure the "Job Category" is one of the list found below

Click "Patient Facing Services Booking" and set for "All Appointments"
Click "Ok" to save your changes

4. Create or edit a session

This is the final step, and is where we set the actual appointment slots available for GP Connect booking by Anima. Repeat this process for all session templates that you wish Anima to book into.

If creating a new session:

In EMIS, click "Create Session"

Give it a suitable name
Under "Session Type" select "Timed appointments"
Select the date and time you wish the session to begin and end
Choose the slot duration
Select a session category as you would normally
You might now see that "All slots GP Connect bookable" is greyed out. Do not worry about this! Carry on with this tutorial.
Click on "Session Holders" at the bottom

Click "Add"
Select the clinician that you want for the session
Remember that this session holder needs to have their specific GP Connect settings set up, as we did in the 3rd step above, "Set up the Clinician Role"
Once you've selected your session holder, click on "Session Details" at the top

You should now see that "All slots GP Connect bookable" is now no longer greyed out
You can now either set all of your slots GP Connect bookable by clicking "Set all" or you can highlight different slots on the right hand side, right click on them and click "Slot Properties"

Set the slot type to the one you've created for these appointments
Set "Externally bookable" to "No"
Tick "GPConnect Bookable"
Click "Apply and Close" and you will see those slots are now set as GP Connect bookable
Now add up how many appointment slots you have set available for GP Connect bookable in this session and note it down
This is because we need to apply a filter to ensure that NHS 111 and other organisations cannot book into these specific slots
Click on "Apply Filter" found under "All slots GP Connect bookable"

Set your filter to allow only your practice (via Anima) to book these appointments.

Under "Filter type" select "Organisation Group"
Under "Name" search for the organisation group we have created
Input the number of slots that are set for GP Connect bookable in this session (that you just noted down). This is essential to make sure that NHS 111 don't accidentally book these reserved slots.
Under "Kind" select "Reserve"
Click "Ok"
Click "Save template" if you want to save this as a template to use again

Click "Ok" and save your changes

If editing an existing session:

Click "Create Session"
Click "Load from template"
Select your template
Check that the session holder has the specific GP Connect settings set up, as we did in the 3rd step above, "Set up the Clinician Role"

Once you've selected your session holder, click on "Session Details" at the top

You should now see that "All slots GP Connect bookable" is now no longer greyed out
You can now either set all of your slots GP Connect bookable by clicking "Set all" or you can highlight different slots on the right hand side, right click on them and click "Slot Properties"

Set the slot type to the one you've created for these appointments
Set "Externally bookable" to "No"
Tick "GPConnect Bookable"
Click "Apply and Close" and you will see those slots are now set as GP Connect bookable
Now add up how many appointment slots you have set available for GP Connect bookable in this session and note it down
This is because we need to apply a filter to ensure that NHS 111 and other organisations cannot book into these specific slots
Click on "Apply Filter" found under "All slots GP Connect bookable"

Set your filter to allow only your practice (via Anima) to book these appointments.

Under "Filter type" select "Organisation Group"
Under "Name" search for the organisation group we have created
Input the number of slots that are set for GP Connect bookable in this session (that you just noted down). This is essential to make sure that NHS 111 don't accidentally book Anima-reserved slots.
Under "Kind" select "Reserve"
Click "Ok"
Click "Save template"
Click "Ok" and save your changes