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Medact disputes NHS England’s reported Palantir benefits at 29 trusts
Medact says 29 NHS trusts that NHS England lists as benefiting from Palantir’s Federated Data Platform (FDP) told the campaign group they were not using it. The discrepancy raises questions about the accuracy of the government’s case for keeping the platform as ministers consider whether to continue a £330 million contract.
NHS England lists 142 trusts as live on the platform and says 137 have reported benefits, meaning the 29 disputed trusts account for about 21 per cent of those said to be benefiting. One trust said the FDP was not live and offered no functionality beyond its existing systems; Nottingham University Hospitals said it had no implementation timeline. Palantir credits its software with supporting 100,000 additional operations, reducing discharge delays by 12 per cent and removing 675,000 patients from waiting lists. The government is due to decide in December whether to continue the contract, which is scheduled to end in February.
In short
- Medact disputes benefit claims for 29 NHS trusts.
- The trusts say they are not using the platform.
- Ministers must decide in December whether to continue the £330 million deal.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
NHS England’s reported benefits may reflect aggregate results across trusts that are at different stages of implementation, and a trust not yet using the platform would not necessarily contradict benefits recorded elsewhere. Palantir’s claimed gains in operations, discharge delays and waiting lists, if supported by reliable data, could help the NHS make better use of capacity and justify continuing a costly contract.
The case against
If 29 trusts listed as benefiting say they are not using the platform, that raises a substantial question about whether NHS England’s figures accurately describe FDP use and impact. Before renewing a £330 million contract, ministers could reasonably require independently verifiable evidence that the claimed gains are attributable to the platform and that trusts can use it in practice.
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Originally published by The Register as “NHS counts Palantir benefits at trusts that say they’re not using it”.