Yorkshire Ambulance Service cuts A&E conveyance to 56% helped by Copilot analysis

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is using Microsoft Copilot to analyse its operational data as it tries to take fewer patients to emergency departments, according to a Microsoft account published on 21 October 2026 ¹. The trust says the share of patients it conveys to A&E has fallen from 60% to 56%, against a target of 50% ¹.

What the trust reported

The service handled about 1.25 million 999 calls in the 2025-26 financial year ¹. Tom Smith, an area operations manager, said Copilot helped the trust gather and interpret the data that showed where patients could be treated at home or referred elsewhere, and that he used it to test the likely effect of changes ¹. The trust is building a programme with community teams, including a transfer-of-care hub that arranges home care and referral routes for patients who do not need urgent treatment ¹.

Smith said the tool organises information for him to check rather than making decisions, and that it handles administrative work that used to take much longer ¹. Samantha Robinson, the trust's chief digital information officer, uses it to draft briefings for senior NHS leaders and to turn national guidance into instructions for staff, which her team then reviews ¹. Smith, who is dyslexic, said the ability to structure drafts and summarise long reports helps “level the playing field” for him ¹.

The account places the trust within NHS England's wider rollout. NHS England said in June 2026 that it would make Copilot available to as many as 505,000 clinical and support staff, after a trial of 30,000 employees in which participants reported saving an average of 43 minutes a day ¹. Dr Alec Price-Forbes, NHS England's national chief clinical information officer, said the tool is restricted to administrative tasks and is not used for clinical work ¹.

What it means for the market

For NHS buyers, the Yorkshire case is an early example of a general-purpose office AI tool being tied to an operational outcome rather than to time saved on paperwork. The trust links the lower conveyance rate to reducing avoidable pressure on emergency departments, which is the measure trusts and ICBs planning urgent care will look at ¹. Price-Forbes said proven tools should move beyond isolated pilots into daily use “wherever evidence shows they improve outcomes, productivity or staff experience” ¹.

For suppliers, the case also shows the terms on which NHS England is adopting generative AI. The account lists standards for clinical safety, information governance, cybersecurity, interoperability and real-world evaluation, and Price-Forbes said “Patients and staff must know when AI is being used, how it shapes decisions and where human oversight applies” ¹. Vendors of clinical AI will face those conditions as well as the administrative-only boundary set for Copilot.

Caveats

This is the supplier's own account, written by Microsoft, and it gives no independent evaluation ¹. The fall in conveyance comes alongside a new community programme and transfer-of-care hub, and the account does not separate the effect of Copilot from those service changes ¹. The 43-minute saving was self-reported by trial participants ¹. The figures cover one ambulance trust, and the 50% conveyance target has not yet been reached ¹.