Politics · United Kingdom · 11 hrs ago
NHS ministers face decision on £330m Palantir contract
The NHS uses Palantir’s platform to connect hospital data for tasks such as managing waiting lists and planning operations.
The £330m contract with NHS England ends next March, and ministers must decide by Christmas whether to extend it.
A member of Parliament’s health and social care committee says ministers should not renew the deal because trust in Palantir is low and the platform’s benefits are disputed.
The NHS owns applications built on Palantir’s software, but it is unclear whether all of them would work on another platform.
The committee member argues that open standards could let the NHS change suppliers without having to rebuild its applications from scratch.
The national data guardian has also raised concerns about supplier lock-in and control of data.
The committee member says ministers should establish now which NHS services depend on Palantir and plan a transition if the contract ends.
Ministers must decide by Christmas whether to extend Palantir’s £330m contract to run NHS England’s federated data platform.
The contract ends next March.
Ben Coleman, a member of the health and social care committee, says ministers should not extend it and should move to other suppliers.
He says it is unclear how easily NHS applications built on Palantir’s platform could be moved, and whether ending the contract could disrupt patient care.
The article says the platform’s benefits are disputed and that concern about trust and dependence on one supplier has grown.
- Who
- UK ministers must decide on the contract; Palantir runs the platform for NHS England.
- What
- Ministers must decide whether to extend Palantir’s £330m contract. Ben Coleman argues against an extension.
- When
- Ministers must decide by Christmas; the contract ends next March.
- Where
- NHS England, in England.
- Why
- The decision concerns whether to continue using Palantir’s platform or move to other suppliers. Coleman cites concerns about trust, supplier dependence and the uncertain benefits of the platform.
UK ministers
Ben Coleman
Contract extension
UK ministers
Ministers must decide whether to extend the contract; the article says they assure Coleman that the NHS is not locked into Palantir’s service.
Ben Coleman
Coleman says ministers should not extend the contract and should move to new suppliers.
Supplier dependence
UK ministers
Ministers say the NHS is not locked in.
Ben Coleman
Coleman says local NHS data teams, British technology firms and thinktanks are not convinced, and says ministers should clarify how applications could be moved.
The health and social care committee recommended that the Palantir contract not be extended.
A ministerial response said the NHS owned, or had a right to use, applications built on the platform, but left some arrangements unclear.
The national data guardian told ministers that concerns about interoperability, vendor lock-in and data sovereignty must be addressed.
Ministers must decide whether to extend the contract.
Palantir’s contract to run the federated data platform ends.
- Contract value
- £330m
- Contract end
- Next March
- Decision deadline
- By Christmas
- Committee recommendation
- No extension, made in June
- Reported non-use
- 16 trusts and health boards say they do not use the platform