Half a million NHS staff to receive Microsoft AI tools in major productivity drive

NHS England is set to provide more than 500,000 staff with access to artificial intelligence (AI) tools as part of what it describes as the largest deployment of its kind in global healthcare.

The move will see 505,000 clinicians and support staff given access to Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI-powered assistant designed to help with tasks such as drafting documents, summarising information and analysing data. NHS England said the technology could free up an average of two days per month from administrative work, allowing staff to spend more time on patient care.

The rollout follows a trial involving more than 30,000 NHS workers across 90 organisations. According to NHS England, participants saved an average of 43 minutes per day using AI-assisted admin support, equivalent to around five working weeks per employee each year.

Largest healthcare AI rollout to date

NHS England said the deployment forms part of its wider ambition to accelerate AI adoption across health services and improve productivity at a time of sustained operational pressure.

Rob Thompson, chief digital, data and technology officer at NHS England, said the technology would help reduce the administrative burden on frontline teams.

“The potential to save NHS staff around two days of admin time every month could be a gamechanger for patients,” he said.

NHS England estimates that a full rollout could save millions of staff hours every month across the health service. The organisation said Copilot will support a range of activities including document creation, meeting summaries, information retrieval, operational planning and data analysis.

Part of wider NHS digital transformation plans

The announcement comes as the NHS continues to expand its use of AI technologies to tackle workforce pressures, improve efficiency and support the ambitions set out in its 10-Year Health Plan.

Recent initiatives have included the introduction of approved AI-powered clinical note-taking tools designed to reduce the admin burden on clinicians. NHS-backed trials of AI scribing technology have previously shown significant reductions in paperwork and increases in time spent with patients.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment represents one of the most significant workforce technology investments announced by NHS England this year and signals a shift from AI experimentation towards large-scale operational deployment.

NHS England anticipates that Copilot will be harnessed across all aspects of healthcare, including:

• Clinical administration: assisting clinicians in drafting letters and registrar training
• Ward clerks: helping with patient discharge processes, service data analysis, rota building and bed management
• Medical secretaries: helping with the drafting of patient letters, meeting minutes and creating templates for consistency
• Core services: assisting human resources, finance and procurement functions
• Management: helping to draft board papers, briefings, organisational analysis

Each NHS trust will receive a central allocation of licences based on organisational headcount, typically starting at around 2,000 Copilot Microsoft 365 licences. Rollout is expected by October 2026.