Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) is significantly expanding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools across its workforce as part of a landmark collaboration with Microsoft.
Over the past 18 months, MFT has been working with Microsoft to explore how AI technologies can support colleagues in their day-to-day work. This has included deploying Dragon Copilot ambient voice technology to hundreds of clinicians, helping to reduce the time spent on documentation and enabling clinicians to focus more fully on conversations with patients.
Early feedback from clinicians has highlighted the benefit of being able to concentrate on the interaction itself rather than the notes, improving the quality of consultations. The Trust has also provided around 1,500 Microsoft 365 Copilot licences to colleagues in a range of roles.
The next phase will significantly increase the number of colleagues with access to Microsoft 365 Copilot and establish an “Agent Factory” at MFT, enabling teams to design and implement AI tools to automate routine operational tasks across services.
As part of an Enterprise Agreement spanning the next three years, MFT will have an additional 6,500 Microsoft 365 Copilot licences each year, enabling access for all corporate staff, and approximately 1,600 frontline colleagues. Teams will also be able to build and deploy AI agents to support processes across areas such as administration, finance and information governance, with appropriate ‘human-in-the-loop’ protections in place to ensure safe and responsible use.
Mark Cubbon, Chief Executive of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Across the NHS we are all looking at how technology can support our workforce and help services run more effectively. For an organisation of our size and scale, the opportunity is significant.
Our collaboration with Microsoft is about using AI to improve the way we work – streamlining administrative processes, reducing the potential for human error in some high-volume tasks, and reinvesting time and resources to support direct patient care.
Agentic AI is an important part of this next phase, and our early HR pilots suggest these tools could reduce the time spent on some administrative tasks by up to half.
What matters most is introducing the tools responsibly, with the right safeguards in place, and with clinicians and staff closely involved in how they are used.”
Darren Hardman, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft UK & Ireland, said:
“The impact that MFT has already seen from M365 Copilot and Dragon Copilot shows what’s possible when AI is put in the hands of busy healthcare teams. This is AI that gives time back. By expanding access and establishing an Agent Factory, MFT is scaling those benefits responsibly across the Trust so more colleagues can streamline routine work and focus on what matters most for patients.”
Improved efficiency
Alongside this, the Trust will invest in training and development to help colleagues build confidence in using AI-enabled tools and to ensure responsible roll-out.
AI agents are already supporting finance teams with forecasting and helping respond to common HR queries from staff, as well as supporting elements of the recruitment process. This allows HR colleagues to focus on more complex issues where their expertise is most needed.
At the scale of MFT, even modest reductions in administrative workload have the potential to release significant time and improve operational efficiency across both clinical and corporate services.
The collaboration forms part of the Trust’s wider Technology and Innovation Programme, which explores how digital and artificial intelligence tools can help improve operational efficiency and reduce administrative workload across the organisation.
The expansion of Microsoft’s AI tools represents the next phase of this programme, enabling these capabilities to be scaled more widely across MFT in a way that supports colleagues and strengthens the services patients rely on.
