Palantir's NHS data platform rejected by most hospitals

US spy tech firm's £330million software isn't much cop, experts say

Palantir’s Peter Thiel - the NHS “makes people sick”

The data held by the NHS is often said to be among the world’s most valuable. Where else would you find detailed health records for more than 65 million people?

So when the Conservative government awarded US spy tech firm Palantir a £330 million contract in 2023 to build a new NHS data platform, the backlash was immediate—centring on concerns over privacy and ethics.

Palantir, co-founded by billionaire and Trump donor Peter Thiel—who once claimed the NHS “makes people sick”—is known for its secretive operations and controversial clients.

Just last week, former Palantir staff accused the company of breaching its own ethical standards by helping the Trump administration track immigrants for illegal deportations.

Now, nearly 18 months after the Palantir NHS contract was signed, Democracy for Sale can reveal that many English hospitals have a different, unexpected objection: Palantir’s software simply isn’t good enough.

According to NHS figures, fewer than a quarter of England’s 215 hospital trusts were actively using Palantir’s Federated Data Platform (FDP) by the end of 2024.

In documents seen by Democracy for Sale, Greater Manchester's health authority wrote: “There are currently no products designed or produced by Palantir Technologies Inc. as part of the FDP programme that exceed the NHS Greater Manchester local capability.”

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was even more blunt, telling NHS England in a private letter that adopting some of the tools on Palantir’s platform would lead it to “lose functionality rather than gain it.” The letter was released in response to a Freedom of Information request by the investigative group Corporate Watch.

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust simply said it had “no plans to join the FDP programme,” without elaboration.

Following the lacklustre uptake, the Department of Health and Social Care last year gave consultancy giant KPMG an £8 million contract to "promote the adoption" of Palantir’s software across the NHS.

Palantir now claims 72 trusts are using its platform as of May 2025—still less than a third of the total. The company also says that half of all hospital trusts have “signed up” to use it in future.

Experts suggest the software doesn’t live up to its billing. Many trusts “already have similar tools in use that presently exceed the capability and application of what the FDP is currently trying to develop,” according to an open letter from the NHS Chief Data and Analytical Officer Network published earlier this year.

Palantir’s expansion in the UK has been rapid. After negotiating its first NHS contract for just £1 in 2020, Palantir quickly emerged as the then Tory government’s preferred provider for NHS data systems.

This was part of a “land and expand’ strategy” of offering free trials or minimal value contracts before “jacking up the prices later,” according to the non-profit Foxglove, which took legal action against the NHS to force the publication of an early Palantir contract.

Palantir has also stepped up its public facing presence in Britain. The firm has recruited a number of senior British political figures, including former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson and, as Democracy for Sale recently reported, ex-Tory defence minister Leo Docherty.

Palantir UK boss Louis Mosley—reportedly present during Starmer’s trade talks with Donald Trump at the White House—was soft-balled by the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this week. (H/T

Carole Cadwalladr

.)

Meanwhile, Palantir's work with the Israeli military has sparked protest among UK healthcare workers. The company allegedly provides “AI-based predictive policing systems” used in Gaza and the West Bank.

“Gaza’s health system has been systematically destroyed,” said Health Workers for a Free Palestine. “All of this is happening with the help of Palantir’s technology,” according to a spokesperson, who said it was “unacceptable” for Palantir to be “anywhere near our sensitive patient data. Health workers across England don’t want it.”

Palantir has denied these claims. A spokesperson said the company “is not built for or deployed to support predictive policing workflows,” and that the £8 million KPMG contract was always part of the platform’s planned rollout. They added that onboarding NHS trusts takes time.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals told Democracy for Sale that while it would “continue to utilise” its own systems for “outpatient care” and “discharge planning,” it is now “working to implement” FDP tools for treatment referrals. NHS Greater Manchester is also said to be in the process of adopting the FDP.

NHS England did not respond to a request for comment.

Ahead of last year’s general election, then opposition health secretary Wes Streeting criticised the “glacial” pace of the FDP rollout.

Since taking office, Labour’s attitude towards Palantir appears to have warmed even further. The company hired Peter Mandelson’s Global Counsel for lobbying, and when Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Washington, D.C. earlier this year, the prime minister toured Palantir’s offices alongside the UK’s new ambassador to the US.

Commenting on today’s revelations, Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, said that "the fact that - on top of everything else - Palantir's NHS offer is just not very good does make one wonder about the source of Wes Streeting's enthusiasm for it. And why the hapless Keir Starmer was dragged along to endorse them by Peter Mandelson."

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