British government The UK has six months to decide whether to terminate its more than $400 million contract between the National Health Service and US technology company Palantir. As some NHS regions are already operating without Palantir’s Federated Data Platform, politicians and healthcare leaders are questioning whether the rest of the country should continue using it.
In 2023, the UK awarded Palantir a contract to develop the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP). The system is designed to connect health data from across the NHS, helping hospitals reduce waiting lists, shorten hospital stays and make better use of operating theatres.
Palantir’s technology has also become politically controversial because of its work in the theatre of war and its links to the US government. The company’s NHS contract has become a flashpoint in the UK, prompting protests, a public petition, parliamentary questions and reports of opposition among NHS staff.
Several European countries are also reassessing their relationships with Palantir as governments seek to reduce their dependence on US technology. Spain has moved to re-evaluate critical contracts, while France and Germany have explored alternative providers to limit reliance on Palantir and other US-based technology companies.
Greater Manchester has repeatedly declined to adopt Palantir’s NHS Federated Data Platform, choosing instead to continue using a locally developed system. The region says its existing platform meets its operational needs and has earned greater public trust. Matt Hennessy, chief data and analytics officer at NHS Greater Manchester, told WIRED that even technically advanced systems may fail to deliver value if clinicians, data managers, patients and the public do not trust them. He said adopting the FDP fully would represent a significant reversal for the region.
Palantir and other supporters of the FDP dispute that assessment. Their arguments have intensified a national debate over whether the UK government should use its upcoming review to end the NHS contract early or allow it to continue until 2031.
For decades, NHS staff have relied on a mixture of digital systems, spreadsheets, paper records and whiteboards to track patients and manage services. When patients move between hospitals, primary care providers and other medical settings, treatment records can remain fragmented or be unavailable. In some cases, poor information sharing has been linked to serious patient-safety concerns and poor clinical outcomes. Without reliable data-sharing tools, NHS managers must make funding, staffing and resource decisions using incomplete information. The FDP is intended to address those longstanding problems.
The NHS began rolling out the Federated Data Platform in early 2024. It combines a national NHS data platform with local databases that allow regions to analyse information and create tools for waiting-list management, discharge planning and other services. Because the systems use a common technical framework, tools developed in one NHS region could potentially be adapted and deployed elsewhere.
“Lift and shift is possible – this is the real power of FDP,” says Tom Bartlett, an independent IT consultant who previously helped oversee the national rollout of the platform as deputy director of data engineering at NHS England. He adds that the FDP could also provide the infrastructure needed to develop and deploy artificial intelligence tools across the health service.
Two main types of NHS organizations can use the Federated Data Platform. NHS trusts operate hospitals and community services, while Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) plan and commission healthcare at the local level. Although these organizations use health data for different purposes, both are expected to use the platform to improve efficiency, support better decision-making and deliver better patient care.
Source: www.wired.com