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British people don’t trust Palantir – it’s not too late to reverse the NHS’s dependence on it | Ben Coleman
Ben Coleman argues that the NHS should not renew Palantir’s £330m contract to run its Federated Data Platform, which ends next March. Ministers must decide by Christmas, and he says they should use the transition to regain control of NHS technology and patient data while protecting patient care.
The platform helps NHS teams link hospital data to manage waiting lists, plan operations and discharge patients, but questions remain about whether its applications can move to another supplier. Coleman proposes shared open standards that would let regions choose different providers and switch without starting again. He cites existing alternatives in Greater Manchester and London, reports that some trusts do not use the platform, and says evidence of benefits is disputed: Palantir claims discharge delays fell by 14%, while the Health Foundation found no noticeable change.
In short
- Palantir’s £330m NHS data contract ends next March.
- Ministers must decide by Christmas whether to extend it.
- Open standards could help the NHS switch suppliers.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The NHS should avoid renewing a large, long-term contract with a supplier that raises public trust concerns, especially if it risks making essential services dependent on one company. A planned transition to shared open standards could preserve useful data functions while letting NHS organisations choose providers and switch more easily; disputed evidence of benefit strengthens the case for reviewing the arrangement before committing again.
The case against
Renewing may be the least disruptive way to keep a platform that helps NHS teams coordinate waiting lists, operations and discharges, while avoiding the risks and costs of a rushed migration. The reported benefits are contested, but that uncertainty could support closer evaluation and stronger safeguards rather than an immediate change of supplier; alternatives and open standards would need to prove they can deliver reliably across the NHS.
Explained simply
The NHS Federated Data Platform is software that helps NHS teams bring together information from hospitals and use it to manage waiting lists, plan operations and arrange patient discharges. The NHS has a £330m contract with Palantir, a US technology company, to run the platform.
The debate is about how much the NHS should rely on one supplier to handle this work and related data. Some trusts do not use the platform, and alternatives exist in parts of Greater Manchester and London; whether the system’s applications can be moved easily to another provider is also in question.
Palantir says use of its platform helped reduce discharge delays by 14%, while the Health Foundation found no noticeable change. The decision matters because the way the NHS sets common standards for its data systems could affect how easily local services choose providers or switch in future.