NHS enters five-year partnership with Microsoft to accelerate innovation

A new five-year agreement between NHS England and Microsoft will provide 1.5 million healthcare staff with access to cutting-edge productivity tools, ensuring greater collaboration and maximising time for care.

The deal will enable all NHS organisations across England to use Microsoft 365 productivity tools and Microsoft's security suite, enabling it to develop faster, more effective clinical ways of working. 

By harnessing AI technologies, the NHS will be able to develop novel applications enabled by Microsoft Teams. These apps are expected to improve workplace processes, support better outcomes for patients and improve working life for busy NHS staff.

The five-year partnership has been negotiated as one contract across the entire health service, rather than separate contracts across individual trusts, resulting in a substantial savings for the NHS. 

A platform for innovation

John Quinn, Chief Information Officer at NHS England, said the deal will create "a platform for innovation so that NHS workers always have the latest digital tools to help them focus on frontline care.”

The NHS has already seen significant benefits since Microsoft Teams was first rolled out across the organisation in March 2020. Since then, it is estimated that NHS employees have saved more than 17 million hours of time.

Quinn continued: “As the NHS turns 75, this deal is part of a long history of the health service adapting to make use of the latest and greatest innovations available to deliver more productive and joined-up services for patients, and gives us a strong platform to build on for the future.

"This is a further great example of the NHS using our collective buying power to secure market-leading products at a reduced cost for taxpayers."