NHS England has paused staff training on data analysis software supplied by US tech firm Palantir, following pressure from Labour MPs and pro-Palestine campaigners who want the health service's £330 million contract with the company scrapped. Critics have targeted Palantir over its work supplying data and AI technology to the Israeli military, arguing the NHS should not do business with a firm they say is complicit in the war in Gaza, while supporters of the deal say Palantir's software helps the NHS manage patient data, cut waiting lists and improve efficiency.

The contract, awarded in 2023, involves Palantir building and running a new "federated data platform" intended to give NHS trusts a single system for tracking patients, staff and resources across England. Labour backbenchers and campaign groups have lobbied ministers and NHS leadership to reconsider the arrangement, citing Palantir's contracts with the Israel Defense Forces and its founder Peter Thiel's political associations, though the government and NHS have so far defended the platform's value for improving healthcare delivery despite halting the training rollout.