The UK government has six months to decide whether to terminate a $400 million deal with Palantir, an American software company, after one part of the NHS has already opted out. The controversy has drawn protests, parliamentary inquiries, and a reported rebellion among NHS workers, as the deal with Palantir becomes a flashpoint in the UK. The NHS commissioned Palantir to develop a federated data platform (FDP) in 2023, which is supposed to streamline health data and improve patient care. However, as Palantir’s technology is used in war zones and immigration enforcement, its role in the NHS has become a subject of intense scrutiny.
The health care board for Greater Manchester, a region in England, has repeatedly refused to adopt Palantir’s FDP, instead sticking with its own homegrown platform. The board claims its system is functionally superior and more trusted by the public. Matt Hennessey, chief data and analytics officer at NHS Greater Manchester, told WIRED, "If we were to fully adopt the FDP … it would be a retrograde step." This claim has fueled a national debate over whether the government should terminate the NHS contract early in February 2025, rather than letting it run until 2031.
For decades, NHS workers have relied on a mix of digital systems, spreadsheets, paper, and whiteboards to manage patient records. This has led to fragmented data and sometimes deadly consequences when patients move between care settings. Palantir’s FDP aims to address these issues by creating a national pool of health data and allowing local regions to develop tools tailored to their needs. The NHS began rolling out the FDP in early 2024, with the goal of improving care coordination and resource allocation.
Source: wired
