How the NHS is using Microsoft’s AI tools
Key Points
- NHS England is giving 505,000 clinicians and support staff access to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- Microsoft says the tool could save staff an average of 43 minutes per day, or five weeks per year each.
- The deal follows a trial involving more than 30,000 NHS workers across 90 organisations.
- NHS Trusts will also be able to build custom AI agents through Copilot Studio.
- Rollout will run over 12 months, with 200,000 users onboarded in the first six months.
NHS England has announced that it will give 505,000 clinicians and support staff access to Microsoft 365 Copilot, in a move it says could save staff an average of 43 minutes per day on administrative tasks.
According to Microsoft, the AI-powered assistant will allow NHS workers to streamline administrative processes, improving capacity across NHS England Trusts, reducing costs, and freeing up more time for patient care.
The deal follows what Microsoft described as the largest AI trial of its kind globally in healthcare, which gave more than 30,000 NHS workers across 90 NHS organisations access to Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Microsoft said the trial found that AI-powered administrative support could save staff an average of 43 minutes per person per day, equating to five weeks of time per person annually.
Microsoft said results from the trial showed that a full roll-out of the tool could save millions of hours every year.
Microsoft added that Copilot helps users create, analyse and complete work faster, and that NHS England anticipates it will be used across multiple aspects of the healthcare service.
These include clinical administration, such as drafting letters and registrar training; ward clerk tasks, including patient discharge processes, service data analysis, rota building and bed management; and medical secretary work, such as drafting patient letters, taking meeting minutes and creating templates.
Microsoft said that the tool would also assist core services including human resources, finance and procurement, as well as management functions such as drafting board papers, briefings and organisational analysis.
As part of the agreement, NHS organisations will also have access to Copilot Studio, which Microsoft said would enable teams to build agents to automate and streamline workflows. Microsoft said this could reduce the time taken to conduct research, analyse data, address HR-related enquiries or facilitate meetings.
Agents in the NHS
According to Microsoft, NHS England will be able to build and deploy agents centrally, while individual Trusts will be able to build custom agents to address trust-specific challenges, such as reducing helpdesk burdens, accelerating complaints and freedom of information requests, or improving financial analysis.
Microsoft said its Agent 365 product would ensure all agents built are secure and adhere to organisational policies and rules.
Health Innovation and Safety Minister Preet Kaur Gill said technology should support NHS staff rather than slow them down, adding that doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals spend valuable time each day on administrative tasks that take them away from patients.
“By rolling out Microsoft Copilot across the NHS, we can reduce that burden, free up clinicians’ time and help staff focus on what they do best, caring for patients,” Gill said.
Gill said the government was putting innovation to work for patients by helping staff work more efficiently, improving productivity, and supporting a modern NHS that delivers better care, faster access to treatment and better value for taxpayers.
Freeing up time
Rob Thompson, Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer at NHS England, said the partnership would mean staff could be freed from admin to focus on treating patients. He said innovations like this would help drive NHS productivity so patients could get treatment sooner, with better value for taxpayers.
“The potential to save clinical staff nearly a day’s worth of admin time every fortnight could be a gamechanger for patients,” Thompson said. He added that NHS England was making sure every pound was spent on cutting waiting times and boosting care through the Plan for Change and 10 Year Health Plan.
Darren Hardman, CEO of Microsoft UK and Ireland, said that by rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot at scale, NHS teams could cut through everyday admin and spend more time where it mattered most.
He said bringing AI safely into the flow of healthcare would help ease pressures, improve productivity and support better decision-making across the health service.
Microsoft said the deployment would be supported by a 12-month onboarding plan, with a scale-up of 200,000 users within the first six months. It added that a training and adoption programme would ensure all NHS workers with access to Copilot and AI agents could take full advantage of them.
