Results from the trial show that a full roll-out could save up to 400,000 hours of staff time per month, equating to millions of hours every year, enabling staff to focus more effectively on frontline care.

The NHS estimates that the technology could save it millions of pounds every month based on 100,000 users, which could reach hundreds of millions of pounds in cost savings every year. That would be spent on directly improving patient care and frontline services.

Government data reveals NHS productivity for acute trusts increased by 2.7% between April 2024 and March 2025, exceeding the government's 2% year-on-year target set in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Health innovation minister, Dr Zubir Ahmed, said: ‘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. We're making sure every pound is spent on cutting waiting times and boosting care through our Plan for Change.'

Currently, more than one million online Teams meetings take place across the NHS each month. With Microsoft 365 Copilot, 83,333 hours in note-taking time could be saved every month, and another 13,200 hours per month could be saved.

The AI personal assistant could also save the health service 271,000 hours a month by summarising complex and long email chains for clinicians and staff. More than 10.3 million emails are sent in the NHS each month.

Darren Hardman, chief executive at Microsoft UK & Ireland, said: ‘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.'

Microsoft Copilot Chat is now available across the whole of the NHS, at no additional cost for the health service, with Microsoft 365 Copilot being used by more than 50,000 members of staff across the NHS. The software works by deploying Microsoft AI directly into the office software that staff use daily, such as Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, enabling the user to use questions or prompts to get help with tasks and workflows, helping colleagues to collaborate and manage tasks more effectively and quickly.

In response, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: ‘This trial shines a light on the huge potential to reduce workloads and bureaucracy that artificial intelligence can have, which could free up hundreds of thousands more hours that NHS staff can use to prioritise patient care.

‘When rolled out effectively, AI tools have great potential to improve NHS productivity and solve specific and identifiable problems. But AI is not always the most appropriate solution and is not the answer to every challenge. That is why these pilots are so important, as they can suggest the impact AI tools can have when deployed more widely.

'However, it is vital that the NHS has the right digital infrastructure to support the development of AI tools and that staff are provided the training needed to use the software properly to achieve the most benefits. Some areas may have poor or incompatible infrastructure and will not be ready for CoPilot yet, with some providers still lacking basics like reliable WiFi, interoperable and secure platforms. Continued capital investment is going to be vital if the NHS is going to develop and maintain the digital infrastructure it needs to make the most of developing AI technologies.'

In a further push to unlock benefits for the wider public through AI, a pot of £1m is being set aside to support the MHRA to pilot AI-assisted tools. These would support scientific expertise, speed up drug discovery and clinical trial assessments, and licensing to improve efficiency and consistency – while keeping all decisions firmly in human hands.  

The government has also unveiled a new blueprint for AI regulation that is expected to help achieve better outcomes for patients and world-leading innovations.

At the Times Sech Summit, technology secretary Liz Kendall will announce plans to look at how companies and innovators can test new AI products in real-world conditions, with some rules and regulations temporarily relaxed under strict supervision.

The announcement comes as chancellor Rachel Reeves also details progress made towards delivering on the government's vision for a regulatory system that better supports growth and innovation. At the Regional Investment Summit, Reeves will announce a range of pro-growth reforms that will help deliver that vision set out March's Regulation Action Plan, including a plan to save businesses across the country nearly £6bn a year by 2029 by cracking down on pointless admin tasks.

Kendall said: ‘We want to remove the needless red tape that slows progress so we can drive growth and modernise the public services people rely on every day.

‘This isn't about cutting corners – it's about fast-tracking responsible innovations that will improve lives and deliver real benefits.'

The government will now move ahead with a public call for views on its AI Growth Lab, which enables AI startups to launch innovative products without waiting years for regulatory clarity, proposals. At the heart of that process will be considerations over whether the programme should be run in-house by the government or overseen by regulators themselves.