Concern is being raised about Palantir’s work with the NHS as new figures showed tens of thousands of patients have withdrawn their data from use in research projects.
James Frith, the health innovation minister, said he was worried about “mistrust” of the US defence and health tech company and “the impact it could have on people’s willingness to share data with the NHS”.
The government is deciding whether to axe the company’s £330m contract to operate the health service’s federated data platform, which is intended to improve efficiency and patient outcomes.
Frith’s comment, in a letter to Layla Moran, the chair of the Commons health committee, follows a rise in patients opting out of allowing their medical data to be shared. In the two months from mid-May to mid-July, 60,000 more people withdrew their private information under a mechanism called the national data opt-out.
Doctors and patients’ groups are calling for Labour to exercise a break clause in Palantir’s seven-year contract. They cite its work with the Israeli military and Donald Trump’s ICE immigration agency and question the company’s claim to provide value for money.
Palantir and its supporters say its AI-driven technology has cut NHS waiting lists for surgery. A spokesperson for the company said it was “helping to deliver better care, with trusts using it recording 110,000 additional operations, a 15% reduction in discharge delays for long-stay patients and a 6.8% improvement in the number of people finding out whether or not they have cancer within 28 days”.
NHS England has reported similar numbers but said it could not “draw conclusions about cause and effect”. The government’s statistics watchdog is investigating the data.
Frith told Moran there had been an increase in NHS data opt-outs, in line with media interest in Palantir’s position.
Palantir’s government contracts have been beset by controversy. Ministers apologised after it emerged that the company’s staff had access to identifiable patient data.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has also blocked the Metropolitan police from awarding Palantir a £50m contract to use its AI to support investigations. He said Londoners wanted to see public money paid only to companies that “share the values of our city”. Palantir is suing over the mayor’s decision.
Frith said the rise in opt-outs was “modest” but would still be monitored. Opting out does not stop an individual’s records from being used for direct care, such as live operations. However, it prevents it being used for research and planning.
Frith said: “It may not be possible to realise the benefits of the 10-year health plan if patients stop sharing their data.”
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Foxglove, a tech equity campaign, welcomed the minister’s acknowledgment of apparent public mistrust of Palantir. “Doctors and patients have been warning about the threat this poses to NHS care, and tens of thousands of people have opted out in just the last few months,” said Tom Hegarty, its head of communications.
“People are right to be concerned given … its founder, Trump ally Peter Thiel, going on record to opine that the NHS makes people sick.”
Frith indicated a policy shift on whether the Palantir-powered platform must be used by NHS trusts. In July, a health minister told parliament that health trusts would be told they “must use” parts of NHS England’s federated platform, which is controlled using Palantir technology. Now Frith has said “there is no requirement to use the FDP” and they may “prefer an alternative”.
Moran, who is a Liberal Democrat MP, said she welcomed the “softened stance” on whether adoption of the FDP was mandatory but added: “We remain of the view that the government should switch provider and not extend the current contract. Given how long this process could take, ministers need to act decisively and quickly, and not put this decision off until February.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “There has been absolutely no change in position. The NHS federated data platform has never been mandatory and organisations have always been able to choose alternative solutions where they meet local needs.”
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