'NHS users report that it is awful to use': Palantir could be forced to exit NHS after pushback from staff, MPs, unions, and pressure groups over
Federated Data Platform

Date:
Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:34:41 +0000

Description:
MPs want Palantir's contract with the NHS to end early, stating that the FDP is awful to use.

FULL STORY
The UK government is considering activating a break clause in Palantirs 330 million contract with the NHS.

The controversial US analytics and surveillance tech company was awarded the contract to provide the NHS with the Federated Data Platform (FDP) - a centralized hub of NHS staff and patient data. However the FDP has seen widespread opposition due to concerns surrounding Palantirs reputation, ethical concerns, and worries around supplying the company with highly sensitive information on millions of Brits.

"The current contract delivers a subscription
service that leaves no deliverables after the subscription no software, no improvements and no intellectual property after spending more than 330 million," said Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley ahead of a Westminster debate. He also stated that he had evidence to suggest that staff find the
FDP awful to use, and that it only benefits a quarter of its user organizations.

All the specially written software and intellectual property rights belong to the supplier, says the contract. All the rights to any know-how are
explicitly retained by the supplier and not passed across on termination of the contract. The contract delivers no software not one line just a subscribed service; a permanent lock-in; a single point of failure, Wrigley continued. Palantir is not only the wrong technical solution; NHS users
report that it is awful to use.

Zubir Ahmed MP, junior minister for the Department of Health and Social Care, has said the break clause, which could end the seven year contract in early 2027, is being weighed up as a possible option.

My north star is always patient safety and quality, and of course value for money. If, at the point of the break clause, we evaluate and find that there are other providers that can do the job better, then of course that needs to be looked at and reflected upon, he said.

Why the controversy?

Palantir has been criticized for its involvement in supplying
the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency with its
ImmigrationOS software , which helps identify suspected illegal immigrants
and track them in near real time - sometimes with the help of medical data.

Palantir staff have also allegedly been given NHS.net email accounts,
granting them access to a database containing the personal information of
over 1.5 million NHS staff .

Palantirs UK Executive Vice-Chair Louis Mosley previously said , We have no interest in patient data in the UK, in response to criticism from UK MPs
about the companys reputation.

Palantir has also won a pilot contract with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to analyze highly sensitive financial regulation data with
the goal of rooting out fraud and financial crimes, sparking more concerns about the companys access to sensitive information.

Via The Register

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/nhs-users-report-that-it-is-awful-to-us e-palantir-could-be-forced-to-exit-nhs-after-pushback-from-staff-mps-unions-an d-pressure-groups-over-federated-data-platform

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