How to Prompt Like a Pro: A Doctor’s Guide to Microsoft Copilot in the NHS
What if I told you that you could save 43 minutes of admin time per day in your clinical job?
That’s what was discovered when a trial of Copilot was run with over 30,000 staff across 90 NHS organisations.
Staff in the NHS trial saved an average of 43 minutes of admin time per person per day, equating to roughly five weeks a year.
NHS England’s Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer, Rob Thompson, described it as “the potential to save clinical staff nearly a day’s worth of admin time every fortnight.”
As a result, Copilot is arriving on NHS desktops at scale, and will soon be available to over half a million NHS staff.
But how can clinicians use Copilot safely and effectively?
Knowing what to ask for, and what never to ask for, is the skill that makes the difference.
Most doctors try it once, type a one-line request, get a bland answer and move on because you don’t have the time to figure it out. But learning to get good outputs from Copilot is a skill that can be learned, and the potential it has to transform your admin burden is worth the investment of time.
This article sets out the context, the dos and don’ts for using Copilot safely in your trust, and a simple framework to help you prompt like a pro.
Why this matters to you
Many doctors already use AI tools like ChatGPT at home. At work, the questions are different. What am I allowed to type into this? Can I trust what comes back? What happens if I get it wrong?
That uncertainty is why so many doctors either avoid Copilot or use it nervously. Using it well protects your patients, your registration and your trust. Using it badly could mean a data breach and consequences for yourself.
But it is not optional for long. In June 2026, NHS England announced that Microsoft 365 Copilot will reach 505,000 NHS staff. If it is not on your desktop yet, it soon will be.
"If it's not clinical, how does it help me?"
You are correct in thinking that Copilot is not a clinical decision-support tool. Neither is it an ambient scribe. It will not see patients for you.
But your week is not only clinical. Just think about the work that spills into your evenings and days off:
– The inbox after a run of nights
– Teaching prep for students and junior colleagues
– Meeting minutes and action plans
– Interview prep
This is where Copilot can help: the inbox cleared after a run of nights, the teaching session planned in your lunch break, and an evening you get back.
Depending on your trust, you may see Copilot Chat (a chat window for general questions and drafting) or Microsoft 365 Copilot (which also works inside your own emails, files and meetings). Check with your digital or information governance (IG) team which one you have and what it is approved for.
Why prompting is the skill
Copilot only knows what you tell it. A vague prompt gets a vague answer, whereas a clear, structured prompt gets something you can use in minutes, not something you rewrite from scratch.
That is why Doctors Training has partnered with Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS), one of the 15 health innovation networks set up by NHS England, to create our AI Essentials for Doctors workshop. We deliver it nationally. It is designed for doctors, by doctors, and it covers safe, ethical and equitable AI use alongside hands-on prompting practice.
The dos and don'ts of Copilot in your trust
Your trust’s own policy always comes first. These principles reflect NHS guidance and what we teach in the workshop.
Never use Copilot outputs to inform or guide clinical decisions |
Never enter patient-identifiable information unless your trust has approved that specific workflow |
Don’t paste in confidential staff, HR or commercially sensitive material without checking you have the right to use it |
Don’t accept an output just because it sounds confident |
Don’t treat a summary as a substitute for reading the original on anything important |
Don’t pass off AI-drafted work as fully your own where transparency is expected |
Don’t outsource the thinking. Copilot supports your insight, it does not replace it |
Instead, make sure you do the following:
How to prompt like a pro: the GCSE framework
GCSE is the prompt structure Microsoft recommends for Copilot. It turns a vague request into a clear brief, the same way you would brief a capable new colleague.
G: Goal. What do you want Copilot to do? One clear task per prompt.
C: Context. Who is it for, and why? Give Copilot a role too, for example “Act as a medical educator”.
S: Source. What should Copilot draw on? Point it to a specific email thread, document or template. Only use sources you are allowed to share, and never patient-identifiable information unless your trust has approved that workflow.
E: Expectations. What should the answer look like? Slides, a quiz, a leaflet, bullet points, a word count, a reading level, a tone.
Then refine: “Turn the case study into three multiple-choice questions with answers and explanations.”
The first prompt gets a generic deck. The second gets a session you can review, check against the guidance and deliver.
Pro tip: give it an example. If you have a letter, template or style you like, share it (anonymised) and ask Copilot to match it.
A worked example:
Beginner prompt: “Create a PowerPoint on asthma.”
Pro prompt: “Act as a medical educator. Create a 5-slide outline for a session on asthma management for FY2 doctors. Use the departmental teaching template I’ve attached. Include one case study and one interactive activity.”
- Goal: a 5-slide outline on asthma management
- Context: a medical educator teaching FY2 doctors
- Source: the attached departmental teaching template
- Expectations: one case study and one interactive activity
Then refine: “Turn the case study into three multiple-choice questions with answers and explanations.”
The first prompt gets a generic deck. The second gets a session you can review, check against the guidance and deliver.
Ideas to try this week
– Summarise a long email thread into decisions and actions
– Draft minutes and an action plan from a Teams meeting
– Turn your notes into a STAR-structured interview answer
– Create a quiz or case study for your next teaching session
– Draft a patient information leaflet at an accessible reading level, then check every clinical fact yourself
AI will not replace doctors, but doctors who use AI wisely will get time back for the work that matters most: patients, teaching and each other.
AI Essentials for Doctors
AI Essentials for Doctors is our CPD-accredited workshop, developed in partnership with Health Innovation KSS and delivered nationally. In the workshop, doctors build a solid understanding of generative AI in healthcare, practise prompting with real tasks, and explore clinical safety, ethics and health equity. Everyone leaves with a prompt library they can use the next day. Learn more here
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