Concern is being raised about Palantir’s work with the NHS as new figures showed tens of thousands of patients have withdrawn their data from use in research projects.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.
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