How Microsoft Copilot Helps 505,000 NHS Employees Capacity

NHS England is deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to 505,000 clinicians and support staff in an effort to reduce administrative workload and increase capacity for patient care.

The digital assistant could free workers from routine paperwork and reduce operational costs across NHS England Trusts.

According to NHS England, the technology will support multiple administrative functions including clinical documentation, ward management, medical secretarial work and core human resources operations.

The deployment follows a trial across 90 NHS organisations that tested the tool with more than 30,000 workers in 2025.

Staff time savings potential

The trial found that AI-powered administrative support could save an average of 43 minutes per staff member each day. This equates to five weeks of time per person annually.

According to the results, a full rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot could save up to 400,000 hours of staff time per month. This translates to millions of hours every year across the health service.

NHS England estimated that the technology could save millions of pounds every month based on 100,000 users. The scale of efficiency could reach hundreds of millions of pounds in cost savings every year, which will be directed toward patient care and frontline services.

Preet Kaur Gill, the UK's Health Innovation and Safety Minister, says: "Technology should support our NHS staff, not slow them down. Every day, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals spend valuable time 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."

Human resources applications

The Copilot tool will assist human resources functions alongside finance and procurement operations. Medical secretaries will use the platform for drafting patient letters, meeting minutes and creating templates for consistency.

Ward clerks will access the system for patient discharge processes, service data analysis, rota building and bed management. Clinical administration tasks will include assisting clinicians in drafting letters and supporting registrar training.

Management teams will use Copilot to draft board papers, briefings and organisational analysis. The platform is expected to ease operational pressures across all aspects of the healthcare service.

NHS organisations will also have access to Copilot Studio. This platform enables teams to build agents to automate and streamline workflows, reducing the time it takes to conduct research, analyse data, address HR-related enquiries or facilitate meetings.

Deployment and training programme

Individual Trusts will build custom agents to solve Trust-specific challenges. This includes reducing helpdesk burdens, accelerating complaints and freedom of information requests or improving financial analysis and processing.

The implementation of Agent 365 will ensure that all agents built are fully secure. The security system guarantees that every custom tool adheres to all organisational policies and rules.

The deployment will be supported by a 12-month onboarding plan, with a scale-up of 200,000 users within the first six months. An extensive training and adoption programme will ensure all NHS workers with access to Copilot and AI agents can use the benefits they deliver.

Rob Thompson, Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer at NHS England, says: "NHS England wants to embrace cutting-edge technology and this Microsoft partnership will mean staff can be freed from 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."

Productivity and digital transformation

Rob notes that the potential to save clinical staff nearly a day of admin time every fortnight could be a game changer for patients. "We're making sure every pound is spent on cutting waiting times and boosting care through the Plan for Change and 10-year Health Plan," he adds.

NHS productivity for acute trusts increased by 2.7% between April 2024 and March 2025.

This exceeded the target of 2% year-on-year set in the 10-year Health Plan.

Better use of technology and gen AI is a component of NHS productivity improvements.

The latest strategy focuses on efficiencies in elective care, outpatient reform and urgent and emergency care.

Darren Hardman, CEO at Microsoft UK & Ireland highlights that "bringing AI safely into the flow of healthcare will help ease pressures, improve productivity and support better decision-making" across the health service.

"We're proud to work with NHS England to help tackle some of its biggest challenges and accelerate digital transformation for the benefit of staff and patients alike," he says.