A growing number of NHS workers are refusing to touch Palantir’s health data system, saying they want no part of the controversial US outfit.
Palantir landed a £330mn (€379mn) contract in 2023 to build the Federated Data Platform, a system designed to collate NHS operational data.
The platform pulls together information such as waiting lists, staffing, patient information and operating theatre schedules.
Palantir’s growing role inside the NHS has become increasingly contentious because of its work in the US defence sector and Palantir co-founder and chief executive Alex Karp’s outspoken backing for Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
One senior NHS official who manages data analysts said, “People are saying, ‘I refuse to work on this software. You have to find something else for me to do… They’re calling it a workplace adjustment. It would be like, you know, if you were disabled and needed a different desk, they’re literally treating it like that.”
The same official said: “It’s a significant number of people, but there is also a silent majority that feel uncomfortable but wouldn’t want to put their head above a parapet.”
Another senior health official, who has worked in NHS analytics for almost two decades, said they would not use the FDP because it was run by an “ethically bankrupt” organisation.
They said: “I will continue to refuse to engage with any work involving this company,” adding: “I know that there are staff who are already working as slowly as they can when pressured to work with Palantir.”
One health data official said their team was “not interested in using [the FDP] as it doesn’t do anything new for us… their method is to just not use it”.
They said: “It’s a mix of not needing to because other methods are better, and ethics. It makes me feel sick every time I log into the thing, and I know I’m not alone in that. Colleagues are avoiding the news because it makes them feel terrible.”
A more junior member of NHS staff said: “Last year, I contacted my team lead to officially refuse to work with the FDP, and I was told that I would be assigned projects outside of the FDP wherever possible.”
The Financial Times reported earlier this week that UK ministers have sought advice on triggering a break clause in Palantir’s contract as political pressure builds to boot the firm out of NHS England data systems.
