NHS Shetland has shared insights and outcomes from its proof of concept of Microsoft Copilot, pointing to early evidence of “significant” time savings, and outlining future plans to embed the solution more widely. As part of the trial, 137 licences were allocated across 38 departments, with the aim of supporting productivity and reducing workload.
The health board highlights its use of a national assessment matrix, local evidence, and survey data, in the evaluation of roles against criteria such as digital integration, document production, automation potential, and strategic value. This acted as a means of determining where the available licences would be deployed.
According to early ROI modelling, the solution offered time savings of an average 44 minutes per user, per day, with all staff bands breaking even within two working days. For the more senior bands, NHS Shetland reports net benefit was realised “within one day”. Staff feedback is said to be “overwhelmingly positive”, with staff noting improved speed and quality of work, reduced stress, and “greater ability to complete tasks within contracted hours”.
Limitations included the reliance of staff on shared drives or desktop-only versions of Office, which restrict Copilot functionality, the health board continues. Findings also demonstrated a number of features yet to be fully explored, such as translation capabilities, accessibility tools, and functions to support neurodivergent staff or those with cognitive impairments.
Looking ahead, NHS Shetland intends to continue to monitor Copilot licence use, focusing on collecting feedback from staff, developing the assessment matrix further, driving staff engagement, and reviewing licence allocation. “Overall, this work aligns strongly with NHS Shetland’s Digital Strategy and the 2024–29 Delivery Plan, ensuring licences are used strategically to maximise organisational impact, workflow efficiency, and staff wellbeing,” it states.
Wider trend: Health AI
HTN was joined by Neill Crump, digital strategy director at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, and Lee Rickles, CIO at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, to discuss practical steps health and care organisations can take to prepare for AI. Neill and Lee shared details of their current work and their journey to date, best practices, learnings, challenges, and the opportunities that lie ahead.
Epic has launched an AI Charting feature as part of its growing portfolio of AI functionality for clinicians, in a move designed to reduce admin burden and allow more focused time with patients. AI Charting is part of Art, Epic’s AI for clinicians. Its capabilities are said to include listening-in during consultations, drafting clinician notes, and scheduling orders based on the conversation. Clinicians are also able to personalise note structure with voice commands, suggesting edits such as the use of bullet points.
An automatic AI system developed by Alder Hey clinicians and researchers from the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool has received a £1.2 million grant from the NIHR Invention for Innovation programme. The system automates x-ray interpretation, data capture, and monitoring, with an AI algorithm trained on thousands of x-ray images that is capable of locating hip bone outlines and detecting cases where dislocation is beginning to happen. In testing, Alder Hey reports that it has performed similarly to human medical experts in terms of accuracy, whilst taking “a fraction of the time” on the analysis.
