--- title: "Anima's AI receptionist asked a 65-year-old if she was calling about her pregnancy" description: "Patients call Andi, the phone bot at a Wantage surgery, a wall to care; the practice answers with 84% positive feedback and 60% same-day appointments. Front-office AI is where the money is landing, and California's new law stops exactly one door past it." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Health" published: 2026-10-18T18:20:47.541Z modified: 2026-10-18T18:20:47.541Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/anima-s-ai-receptionist-asked-a-65-year-old-if-she-was-calling-about-her-pregnancy language: en keywords: "Health, AI, Healthcare, Regulation, Voice AI" --- # Anima's AI receptionist asked a 65-year-old if she was calling about her pregnancy > Patients call Andi, the phone bot at a Wantage surgery, a wall to care; the practice answers with 84% positive feedback and 60% same-day appointments. Front-office AI is where the money is landing, and California's new law stops exactly one door past it. ## A wall, in the patients' words Since July, every call to Newbury Street Practice in Wantage has passed through Andi, an AI receptionist from Anima Health, a UK primary-care platform used in more than 1,300 GP practices, with a human receptionist still one option away [1][2]. Tricia Lockhart, 65, says Andi decided she was "calling about [her] pregnancy" when she wanted to discuss medicine, something she called potentially dangerous [1]. Jo Rogers waited 20 minutes in a phone queue before Andi "decided he couldn't help" [1]. Evie Chapman reported hours on hold for a routine appointment [1]. The local MP, Olly Glover, [has taken constituents' complaints to the surgery](https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/26627271.oxfordshire-gps-ai-receptionist-frustration-described/) [1]. ## 11,000 requests, 84% positive The practice answers with arithmetic: more than 11,000 requests since launch, about 180 each working day, over 60% of appointments booked through the system seen the same day, and feedback 79% positive in month one, 84% in month two, all practice-reported [1]. Andi makes no clinical decisions and has passed NHS assurance checks, the practice says [1]. The same surgery was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission in 2022 and requiring improvement in 2023 [1]. *Chart: **Feedback climbed 79% to 84% in two months, with 60% of bookings seen same day** Column chart of practice-reported figures since Andi launched: positive feedback of 79% in month one and 84% in month two, and 60% of appointments booked through the system seen the same day* *Positive patient feedback by month since launch and share of appointments booked through Andi seen the same day; all figures practice-reported, as cited by the Oxford Mail. Units: percent. [1]* ## The money is moving past the note [The front desk is where clinical-AI capital is landing now](https://theinference.org/article/mckinsey-s-ai-math-gives-insurers-the-front-door-and-doctors-the-deskilling-bill). Suki, whose tools are embedded in platforms run by Optum, [Zoom](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/zoom) and athenahealth, [raised a $90 million Series E on October 13, 2026](https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/suki-raises-90m-in-series-e-round-to-create-ai-agents/832862/), to build agents that handle referrals and prior authorizations after the visit is over [4][5]. [Abridge](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/abridge) [raised $300 million](https://theinference.org/article/abridge-launches-hospital-claim-review-putting-athelas-and-parent-commure-s-7-billion-valuation-to-the-test) and [Ambience Healthcare](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/ambience-healthcare) $243 million last year [4]. Suki says encounters on its tools grew more than 190% year over year in 2026, after revenue doubled in 2025 [5]. *Chart: **Suki's $90M is the small round in health AI's race past the note** Bar chart comparing disclosed funding rounds: Suki $90M versus Ambience Healthcare $243M and Abridge $300M* *Disclosed equity rounds: Suki Series E announced October 13, 2026; Ambience Healthcare and Abridge raises reported for 2025. Source: Healthcare Dive. [4]* ## California drew its line at the license [Assembly Bill 1979](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1979), signed on September 30, 2026, and effective January 1, 2027, bars health facilities from deploying AI to independently perform any clinical function the law reserves to licensed professionals, and requires clinicians to keep independent judgment whenever software informs care [6][7]. It expressly exempts documentation and communication, which is Andi's lane: phones and forms, not diagnosis [7]. Andi does not make clinical decisions; he decides who gets to ask for one. Britain already has the counter-case: a South Yorkshire surgery withdrew its AI receptionist after a stroke patient could not make herself understood, [a failure Healthwatch Rotherham traced to accents and speech impediments](https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-gp-receptionist-stroke-patient-accessible-information-standard), while the developer claimed over 90% of patients report improvement [3]. The NHS App will still triage patients with AI as part of a £10 billion technology overhaul [3]. ## Month three, the CQC and the investors next door Watch month three of the practice's feedback, any move by the CQC or the Thames Valley integrated care board, and uptake across Anima's installed base. Anima is private and discloses no financials, so its growth cannot be bought or shorted directly. The listed exposure sits next door: Zoom and [Philips](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/philips) are Suki investors, and Optum, Zoom and athenahealth embed its tools [4][5]. ## Takeaway The money and the rollouts are landing at the front office, the one lane California's AB 1979 leaves alone, so the checks on Andi are NHS assurance and the practice's own monthly feedback. ## Sources 1. [Oxford Mail, "'Frustration' as patients describe AI GP receptionist as 'wall' to care", 18 October 2026](https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/26627271.oxfordshire-gps-ai-receptionist-frustration-described/) 2. [BBC (Local Democracy Reporting Service, via MSN), "Patients' frustration at GP surgery's AI receptionist", 14 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/patients-frustration-at-gp-surgerys-ai-receptionist/ar-AA2edRRi) 3. [The Next Web, "AI receptionists seem like a dangerous idea after a patient revealed her doctor's system could not understand her speech", 26 August 2026](https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-gp-receptionist-stroke-patient-accessible-information-standard) 4. [Healthcare Dive, "Suki raises $90M in Series E round to create AI agents", 13 October 2026](https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/suki-raises-90m-in-series-e-round-to-create-ai-agents/832862/) 5. [Fierce Healthcare, "Suki secures $90M in series E funding to accelerate growth, expand AI capabilities", 13 October 2026](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/finance/suki-secures-90m-series-e-funding-accelerate-growth-expand-ai-capabilities) 6. [Governing (Bay Area News Group, TNS), "California Bans AI From Making Medical Decisions on Its Own", 13 October 2026](https://www.governing.com/artificial-intelligence/california-bans-ai-from-making-medical-decisions-on-its-own) 7. [California Legislative Information, AB-1979 Health care services: artificial intelligence, chaptered 30 September 2026](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1979) --- Anima's AI receptionist asked a 65-year-old if she was calling about her pregnancy — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/anima-s-ai-receptionist-asked-a-65-year-old-if-she-was-calling-about-her-pregnancy