The health innovation minister, James Frith, has warned that public "mistrust" of Palantir could undermine NHS research, after new figures showed a surge in patients opting out of sharing their medical data. The comments come as the government weighs whether to terminate Palantir's £330m contract to run the NHS's federated data platform, amid pressure from doctors and patients' groups who cite the firm's work with the Israeli military and US immigration authorities and question its value for money.

Between mid-May and mid-July, 60,000 more people withdrew their data via the national data opt-out, which Frith described in a letter to health committee chair Layla Moran as a "modest" but monitored rise. Palantir says its technology has delivered 110,000 additional operations, a 15% cut in discharge delays and a 6.8% improvement in cancer diagnosis waiting times, though NHS England says it cannot confirm cause and effect, and the matter is under review by the statistics watchdog. Frith also signalled a softer stance on mandatory use of the platform, saying trusts are not required to adopt it, while campaigners and Moran continue to press ministers to switch providers before the contract is extended.