Palantir out of the NHS!

Palantir out of our NHS

Palantir initially got a foothold in the NHS in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, agreeing to a contract for a token £1, to ‘help manage NHS data and resources’. What began as a temporary emergency arrangement has since grown into a much larger and more concerning role. 

In November 2023, Palantir was awarded a £330 million 7-year contract by the Conservative government to run the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), a system designed to connect patient and operational data across hospitals and care services in England. As the platform is rolled out nationwide, Palantir is gaining unprecedented access to NHS data.

Why we should be concerned about Palantir

Patient Data and Public Trust
The NHS holds some of the most sensitive information about our lives. Many patients, clinicians and campaigners are concerned about:

• The security of large-scale NHS databases – the risk of data breaches and cyber-attacks
• The growing role of private corporations in NHS infrastructure
• Lack of transparency and democratic oversight
• Whether a foreign private company should manage NHS data
• Ethical concerns – Palantir’s role in US ICE operations and supporting the IDF in Gaza and Palestine
• Future threat: Palantir is willing if asked to link in NHS data to Home Office and other departments’ data.

Public trust is essential to the NHS. Decisions about patient data must meet the highest standards of ethics, security and accountability.

Many campaigners are concerned that their local Trusts are using software linked to the Palantir platform. Previous Health Minister Preet Kaur Gill confirmed to Parliament that hospitals and local trusts retain the final decision to use or decline the system, despite national NHS pressures and investment from NHS England.

Two House of Commons Select Committees call for contract to end

In June 2026, the influential Science, Innovation and Technology Committee concluded that ‘Palantir’s increasing presence across the public sector represents an unacceptable point of weakness’. In July, the Health and Social Care Select Committee concurred. The committees highlighted the damaged public trust in NHS data safety, the questionable claims of superior benefits and the ethical questions raised by Palantir’s contracts with US military and immigration services, where it has supported ‘highly controversial policies and activities’. They pointed to the hostility of Palantir’s co-founder Peter Thiel to the NHS and to the company’s ‘explicitly political manifesto’ – evidence of ‘a clear mismatch with UK values’.

They recommend that the Government pulls out of Palantir’s £330m data contract with the NHS.

“The Government should commit to exercising the February 2027 break clause in the Federated Data Platform contract’, the report added, ‘and either develop an in-house replacement or seek an alternative developed by UK-owned and UK-based providers that are more compatible with UK values, and do not pursue either technical or contractual dependencies.”

Palantir’s Record

Palantir is not an ordinary healthcare company. Its software has been used for:

• Military operations and warfare
• Surveillance and intelligence gathering
• Border enforcement and migrant tracking, enabling detentions and deportations
• Policing and security operations

In the United States, Palantir technology has been used by ICE to analyse data across government systems to identify and track migrants. In 2025, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories described Palantir as an enabler of the ‘unlawful use of force’ there.

Many people believe that a company with this record should not be entrusted with NHS patient data.

Is the Palantir platform even necessary?

There are also serious practical concerns.

• Palantir and NHSE have overclaimed the benefits of both Palantir’s FDP and additional software apps (e.g. OPTICA) drawing criticism from the National Data Office. NHSE has apologised and inserted caveats with its reporting.
• Clinicians, data experts and NHS organisations have warned that the Federated Data Platform could:
  • Lock the NHS into Palantir long-term
  • Replace local systems that already work well
  • Create new governance and operational problems
  • Divert resources from other digital improvements
  • Slow innovation across the NHS – there are NHS digital experts who could carry out this work
• Despite NHSE pressure to do so, only 64% of NHS trusts had adopted the platform by June 2026 and 52 of those 139 trusts had not used a single FDP app. 78 trusts and ICBs had not signed up, indicating a lack of confidence.

Questions about influence and conflicts of interest 

Concerns have also been raised about links between Palantir and senior political figures.

Reports have highlighted connections between Peter Mandelson, his consultancy Global Counsel and Palantir. Mandelson arranged a meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Palantir CEO Alex Karp in February 2025. Seven months later, Palantir was awarded a major Ministry of Defence contract. A senior NHS leader, Matthew Swindells, advocated for extension of GP data to link with Palantir’s FDP when he was also acting as adviser to Palantir. The exposure of this conflict forced his resignation.

These developments underline the need for full transparency and public scrutiny.

Our Demand: Pause the rollout

We join health campaigners across the UK in calling for a pause in the national rollout of the Federated Data Platform. The Government should give notice by the Autumn that it will use the break clause to end the contract in February 2027; and it must prepare for an alternative now.

Before control of NHS data is handed over on an even larger scale, there must be:

• Full public scrutiny, ethical evaluation and risk assessment
• Independent investigation
• Clear guarantees on data security

What should happen next? 

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England should urgently give notice to Palantir that the contract will end in February 2027. The absolute deadline for notice is December.  

• The DHSC and NHSE should announce a pause in further rollout of the FDP and the status quo left in place where trusts and ICBs are operating their systems of choice. 
• A government commitment must be given stating that patient data and other NHS information will remain under the control of the NHS and will never leave the country or be sold commercially. 
• Alternative solutions should be urgently explored nationally that meet these commitments.

We are happy to discuss this issue. Please email: [email protected]

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