What has a US surveillance and military tech giant which has contracts with the CIA, FBI, US immigration and customs enforcement and the Israeli military got to do with our NHS? By now you may have heard of the ominously named Palantir Technologies, the private company whose founder and owner Peter Thiel, has links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, did business with the disgraced Peter Mandelson, and has deep links to the Trump administration. You have probably also heard of Palantir’s multimillion-pound NHS contract to build and run the Federated Data Platform (FDP) which aims to link up disparate data across the health service so it can be used more effectively by NHS workers and bodies.
But perhaps less well-known is that NHS data professionals, health workers and human rights organisations have been speaking out (even when they have risked their jobs to do so) to counter the narrative that Palantir and NHSE England have been spinning about the success of the digital programme.
Palantir’s FDP claims to be able to connect disparate NHS IT systems in every NHS hospital and independent commissioning board (ICB) in England, to improve the quality, timeliness and efficiency of patient care. The initial contract, which was awarded at £330mn, is now set to exceed £1bn.
Recently, NHS data experts reported that the evidence used to justify the massive amounts of money given to a private US company to run important health serve infrastructure is flawed. The pilot research and evaluation have been shown to have been skewed, confusing causation with correlation.
Big tech lacks checks and balances
The role of AI and big tech in creating and embedding the infrastructure on which our public systems will rely is being called into question on the international stage. Concerns over the lack of adequate regulation and expert oversight are not isolated to only a few voices: global investment management companies admit that the pace of AI development is outrunning the safeguards being put in place. This only emphasises the fragility of our social systems, the weakness of public oversight and democratic processes.
In the context of UK sovereignty and integrity of our NHS, it is devastating.
Increasing concerns over contract terms
Uptake of Palantir’s cloud-based FDP software, although optional, has not prevented concerns from mounting among healthcare professionals, MPs, legal experts and campaigners. These concerns include long-term unanswered questions on transparency, accountability and ethics.
When NHS England (NHSE) was brought to court in 2024 over the lack of transparency around Palantir’s NHS contract, the contract itself was was produced – but only with a 71% redaction, and with many pages completely blacked out. Redacted sections on data protection were because these were “subject to commercial negotiation”, ie those negotiations continued after the signing of the contract. Concerningly, it has just been revealed that the NHS deal with Palantir will offer the private company unlimited access to all patient data.
The main focus of opponents’ activity now is on activating the 2027 break clause in the contract.
Flaws in the pilot scheme
Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, the site of the initial pilot, was reported to have experienced improvements due to the FDP. However, experts revealed that many of the benefits and impacts claimed are based on scant, low-quality data analysis and methodology.
In a recent report, data analysts showed how improvements attributed to the FDP missed the fact that the same improvements were also seen in other non-FDP trusts at the same time, as the country came out of the Omicron wave of Covid-19. There isn’t enough evidence to claim these improvements were directly related to Palantir’s technology, yet this study was used as the proof of concept for the data platform.
The NHS evaluations that underpin the FDP have not been publicly published and therefore cannot be scrutinised.
Stronger methodology is needed
In a discussion on his Linkedin account in April 2026 about the flawed evaluation of the FDP, Tom Bartlett – who describes himself as the man who led “the data engineering team at NHS England that built and delivered the Federated Data Platform” – admitted that the data platform’s benefits were weak and unproven.
Bartlett wrote “I do agree there needs to be stronger methodology on the benefits measurement. In my experience project teams find it hard to prioritise that under delivery pressure, so it is good that there will be an independent review soon. The published figures may be imperfect but my instinct, having read the testimonials from staff who use the products and heard directly from people who lead the Chelsea and Westminster hospital, is that they are directionally right even if the quantum is unproven.”
If we are going to allow a private company access to the world’s largest collective health data repository, for their growth and profit, we need to make sure the benefits are overwhelmingly felt by patients and staff across England too.
Silencing critics within the NHS
Not only has there been a lack of scrutiny, but there has been a silencing of NHS clinicians and data experts using the data system. Recent articles have highlighted that NHS staff are being warned by senior officials not to criticise the FDP, some even being told they could lose their job if they don’t stay quiet. In addition, The Guardian revealed that Palantir staff have been given access to the NHS.net emails of around 1.5 million staff.
The overall success story being marketed by NHSE is continually challenged by frontline workers and reporters. In April, the Health Service Journal (HSJ) published a piece (subscription needed) about trusts who use Epic for their electronic patient records refusing FDP, but still being marked by NHS as ‘realising benefits’.
For a national federated data platform to work well and sustainably for the benefit of NHS patients and staff, there needs to be transparency, accountability and buy-in on all levels. There is very little of this happening.
Caution in West Yorkshire
Closer to home, there has been local-level caution and concern when it comes to Palantir and the FDP. The Greater Manchester ICB twice refused to adopt the data platform, citing multiple concerns including costs, public trust, and functionality. They said that the “adoption of (the) FDP may represent a time-consuming and possibly retrograde step”, adding that its own data system also had a “hard won foundation of trust”, and that choosing Palantir “has caused some public consternation in relation to data security and the decision not to invest in the domestic market”.
Uptake has been limited across West Yorkshire, with Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust using only one or two products, with no plans for further rollout.
In late 2024, Leeds Teaching Hospitals said that “from the descriptions we have of these FDP products we believe we would lose functionality rather than gain it by adopting them”.
At a December 2025, West Yorkshire ICB (WYICB) meeting, the then CEO, Rob Webster, spoke about the importance of continuing “to keep reinforcing compassionate, empathic leadership” and stated that “we are not passive recipients of national guidance, we have our agency”.
National and local campaigns to hold Palantir to account
The local branch of the national No Palantir in the NHS campaign (for more information contact: nopalantirintheNHS.westyorkshire@proton.me) is looking to the leadership of the WYICB to make the right decision and refuse to adopt NHS technology made by an ideological company that profits from human rights abuses. Health service workers and patients nationally and internationally, are against this scandal-ridden surveillance company being anywhere near our sensitive health data.
For those interested in finding out more or supporting the campaign, the next WYICB board meeting is on 23 June, and meetings are open to the public.
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