--- title: "OpenAI makes UK startup Anima its healthcare showcase as patients call the same bot a wall to care" description: "OpenAI's October 23 customer story hands UK startup Anima a vendor endorsement just as it enters the US and Australia. The 75% wait cut is Anima's own measurement, and this month Wantage patients called the same bot a wall to care." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Health" published: 2026-10-29T16:23:22.998Z modified: 2026-10-29T16:23:22.998Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/openai-makes-uk-startup-anima-its-healthcare-showcase-as-patients-call-the-same-bot-a-wall-to-care language: en keywords: "OpenAI, Health Tech, NHS, UK" --- # OpenAI makes UK startup Anima its healthcare showcase as patients call the same bot a wall to care > OpenAI's October 23 customer story hands UK startup Anima a vendor endorsement just as it enters the US and Australia. The 75% wait cut is Anima's own measurement, and this month Wantage patients called the same bot a wall to care. Earlier this month, patients at Newbury Street Practice in Wantage, England, called the AI receptionist Andi a ["wall" to care](https://theinference.org/article/anima-s-ai-receptionist-asked-a-65-year-old-if-she-was-calling-about-her-pregnancy); the bot [asked one 65-year-old whether she was phoning about her pregnancy](https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/26627271.oxfordshire-gps-ai-receptionist-frustration-described/) [1]. On October 23, [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai) made Andi's maker, UK startup [Anima](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anima), a healthcare customer story spanning more than 1,000 clinics and about 14 million patients [2]. ## The endorsement doubles as distribution The figures are the pitch. Clinics on Andi, built on GPT-Live, cut phone waits from 40 to 50 minutes to about 10, at least 75%, and median case resolution runs about 3.5 hours across 800,000-plus cases a month [2]. Shun Pang, a Cambridge-trained doctor who co-founded Anima [3], says OpenAI won a benchmark of open and closed models on "superior intelligence, intelligence per dollar" [2]. The endorsement lands as Anima expands into the US and Australia [2]. ## Every number is Anima counting itself Every metric is Anima's own measurement, relayed by its model vendor, and no independent test has confirmed the wait-time claims [4]. Anima's own website markets harder than the case study, [advertising a greater than 90% cut in phone waits](https://www.animahealth.com/) [5]. OpenAI's healthcare showcase is a customer grading its own homework. ## Receipts and counter-receipts Document throughput roughly tripled: practices that filed about 15 clinical documents an hour now handle 30 to 45, top performers 45 to 60, and some clinics cleared backlogs above 100,000 documents within days [2]. *Chart: **Document throughput tripled at clinics on Anima, by Anima's own count** Bars comparing clinical documents processed per hour: about 15 before Anima, 30 to 45 typically with Anima, and 45 to 60 at top-performing clinics* *Documents per hour, self-reported by Anima in OpenAI's customer story of October 23, 2026; typical and top bars plot midpoints of the reported ranges (30 to 45 and 45 to 60). [2]* The Wantage surgery logged more than 11,000 requests, about 180 a working day, with over 60% of booked appointments same-day; feedback ran 79% positive the first month, 84% the second, and the practice says the service passed NHS assurance checks [1]. Anima's surveys put would-reuse at 86%, with people in their 80s and 90s among the happiest users [2]. One named patient still queued 20 minutes after Andi decided it could not help her [1]. ## Where the money sits Anima's last disclosed round is [a $12 million Series A of March 2024](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/20/healthcare-platform-anima-brings-salesforce-like-capabilities-to-clinics-raises-12m/), led by Molten Ventures with Hummingbird Ventures, Amino Collective and Y Combinator, raised when it served 150 NHS clinics [3]. accuRx had raised £36.6 million, Memora Health $80.5 million, NexHealth $177.2 million [3]. The case study closes none of that funding gap, but it puts OpenAI's logo on the benchmark every rival now sells against. *Chart: **Rivals had raised several times Anima's $12 million Series A** Bars comparing disclosed funding: Anima 12 million dollars, Memora Health 80.5 million dollars, NexHealth 177.2 million dollars* *Disclosed funding as of TechCrunch's March 20, 2024 report, the source of every figure in this section; accuRx's £36.6 million is excluded as a different currency. [3]* ## The two readings that decide it No independent verification exists yet [4]. Until one lands, watch Wantage's monthly feedback, which tests whether the wall gets taller, and Anima's next disclosed round, which prices what the endorsement is worth. ## Takeaway OpenAI's endorsement hands Anima a showcase just as it enters the US and Australia, but every number in it is Anima's own count, and Wantage patients still hit a wall. ## Sources 1. [This Is Oxfordshire, "Oxfordshire GP's AI receptionist 'frustration' described", October 2026](https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/26627271.oxfordshire-gps-ai-receptionist-frustration-described/) 2. [OpenAI, "Anima helps clinics cut call waits by 75% with GPT-6 and GPT-Live", 23 October 2026](https://openai.com/index/anima/) 3. [TechCrunch, "Healthcare platform Anima brings Salesforce-like capabilities to clinics, raises $12M", 20 March 2024](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/20/healthcare-platform-anima-brings-salesforce-like-capabilities-to-clinics-raises-12m/) 4. [The Intel Brief, "Anima Uses GPT-6 and GPT-Live to Reduce Clinic Call Wait Times by 75%, Says OpenAI", 28 October 2026](https://www.theintelbrief.com/article/anima-gpt6-gptlive-cut-clinic-call-waits) 5. [Anima Health website, "Anima gives you more room for care", accessed 29 October 2026](https://www.animahealth.com/) --- OpenAI makes UK startup Anima its healthcare showcase as patients call the same bot a wall to care — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/openai-makes-uk-startup-anima-its-healthcare-showcase-as-patients-call-the-same-bot-a-wall-to-care