The NHS has achieved a landmark in healthcare innovation following the world’s largest artificial intelligence (AI) trial of its kind.
Over 30,000 NHS staff across 90 organisations took part in testing Microsoft 365 Copilot, a transformative tool that integrates AI directly into Microsoft’s everyday office applications. The results? Significant time savings, boosted productivity, and the promise of better patient care.
According to the findings, NHS workers using Microsoft 365 Copilot saved an average of 43 minutes per day – the equivalent of five working weeks each year.
A full rollout could save the NHS an astonishing 400,000 staff hours every month, freeing up millions of hours annually that could be redirected towards frontline patient care.
UK Health Innovation Minister, Dr Zubir Ahmed, believes AI tools will revolutionise the health service: “As an NHS surgeon and clinician, I know how frustrating it can be to be held up by archaic technology that makes day-to-day tasks painstakingly long.
“This partnership with Microsoft will help free up staff from spending time on admin so they can focus on what they want to be doing – treating patients.
“Innovations like this will help drive NHS productivity so patients can get the treatment they need sooner and there is better value for taxpayers.”
Millions in savings to reinvest in patient services
Beyond time savings, the economic impact is equally striking. With an estimated 100,000 users, Microsoft 365 Copilot could save the NHS millions of pounds each month, potentially rising to hundreds of millions annually.
These savings will be reinvested directly into patient services and frontline improvements, aligning with the government’s ambition to create a more efficient, digitally driven health service.
This trial reinforces the government’s commitment to cutting waste and duplication while driving up NHS productivity.
Between April 2024 and March 2025, acute trust productivity rose by 2.7%, surpassing the government’s 2% target in its 10-Year Health Plan – a success largely attributed to smarter use of technology and AI.
How Microsoft 365 Copilot transforms NHS workflows
The integration of Microsoft 365 Copilot within tools like Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint allows staff to streamline daily tasks through simple prompts and questions.
For instance, NHS employees now hold over a million Teams meetings monthly; Copilot’s automated note-taking feature alone could save 83,000 hours every month, while email summarisation could free up another 271,000 hours across the health service.
By automating routine administrative work, the AI assistant enables clinicians and administrators to devote more time to patient-facing duties, marking a significant milestone in the NHS’s digital transformation journey.
Darren Hardman, CEO of Microsoft UK and Ireland, added: “This major trial proves the extraordinary potential of AI to transform healthcare.
“By reducing admin and giving healthcare workers back a reported 43 minutes every day, Microsoft 365 Copilot can help the NHS redirect hundreds of thousands of hours each month towards patient care and potentially save hundreds of millions of pounds every year.
“We’re proud to support the NHS in this digital transformation, which shows how AI can reduce time-consuming admin for NHS workers and so improve the quality of patient care.”
Driving the NHS digital future
As part of the government’s wider push to move from analogue to digital, Microsoft 365 Copilot is already being deployed to more than 50,000 NHS staff, with access to Microsoft Copilot Chat now available across the entire health service at no extra cost.
This large-scale rollout builds on the existing partnership between NHS England and Microsoft, leveraging the NHS’s collective buying power to deliver cutting-edge digital tools.
The trial’s success signals a new era for the NHS – one where AI like Microsoft 365 Copilot empowers staff, boosts productivity, and ultimately enhances the quality of patient care.
