The UK government is weighing the use of a break clause next spring to potentially end its £330 million contract with US spy-tech firm Palantir for the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), following significant criticism from MPs, unions, and campaigners theregister.com. Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley stated that the FDP has delivered only three or four of its 13 core capabilities, benefits only a quarter of its user organizations, and allows the NHS to retain no intellectual property for connecting software theregister.com.
Critics argue that the software is "not very good" for advanced analytics and visualization compared to existing NHS solutions, essentially serving as an "overpriced data warehouse" that the NHS is trying to adapt for all its data needs rorycellanjones.substack.com. The total cost to taxpayers is estimated to be closer to £1 billion, as trusts incur significant expenses for implementation, including developer time, project managers, and new computer systems rorycellanjones.substack.com. Despite NHS England's expectation for all providers and integrated care boards to onboard to the FDP by 2028/29, some areas, like Greater Manchester, have already established their own data sharing systems and do not intend to close them down rorycellanjones.substack.com.
Claims of success for the FDP, particularly regarding improved theatre utilization at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, have been challenged as "flawed" by a BMJ analysis digitalhealth.net. The study's conclusion, linking FDP implementation to improvements, was criticized for conflating correlation with causation, suggesting that performance recovery after December 2021 was likely due to the health service recovering from the pandemic rather than the FDP digitalhealth.net. Palantir, however, maintains that its software provides value for money and that patient data remains secure, emphasizing that the company has no interest in using NHS patient data for its own purposes and that the data stays within the UK and is NHS-owned bbc.com.
