NHS Trusts Reject Palantir’s Federated Data Platform Amid Growing Controversy

Freedom-of-information responses obtained by Medact show that 16 NHS trusts and health boards in England have formally declined to adopt Palantir’s £330 million federated data platform (FDP), introduced in March 2024. More than two dozen other trusts either reverted to legacy systems after trials or reported that alternative software “supercedes” the FDP’s capabilities.

The Guardian

The seven-year NHS-Palantir agreement, signed under the administration of Mayor Andy Burnham, was intended to integrate patient data across the health system to improve clinical accuracy and efficiency. Palantir points to NHS-derived statistics indicating that trusts using the FDP have performed 117,000 additional operations and achieved a 14.3 % reduction in discharge delays for long-stay patients. NHS England, however, added a caveat that causality cannot be established because other variables were not controlled. The government’s national data guardian, Dr Nicola Byrne, warned that “trust factor” considerations should weigh heavily in any decision on the contract’s future. Over 44,000 individuals have filed legal objections to having their health data shared via the FDP.

The Guardian

A Palantir spokesperson emphasized that the FDP is “objectively a successful programme,” noting that it ranks among the 20 % of major government programmes with a green delivery rating and that ministers claim it “significantly exceeds its benefits forecast.” NHS England stated that 137 NHS trusts have reported benefits from the platform’s tools, describing improvements in staff coordination and patient care efficiency.

The Guardian

Liberal Democrat committee member Martin Wrigley described the system as “just not that good,” calling centrally dictated solutions “unworkable” and advocating for interoperable, trust-specific software. Sophie Don, chief executive of rival patient-data firm Voror, argued that the platform “is making things harder” and that home-grown systems would deliver far more value.

The Guardian

• “We have to get back to developing interoperability so each trust has its own software but with a set of standards for how they interact. Palantir are great sales people but they over-promise and under-deliver.” — Dr Rhiannon Mihranian Osborne, a spokesperson for Medact

The Guardian

• “Of course Palantir isn’t the only company that can do this. It doesn’t surprise me that it is making things harder … If NHS staff are choosing not to use it, it’s a clear sign it’s not creating value. There are many home-grown systems that would release much more value to the NHS than the [Palantir] platform.” — Voror, the chief executive

The Guardian