Ministers have until 3 December to decide whether to pull the NHS out of its £330m contract with Palantir, campaigners say, as Hackney’s hospital trust said it has no plans to extend its limited use of the controversial data platform.
The Hackney Coalition against Palantir says the break clause in the Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract carries a three-month notice period. On that account, the government must act by early December if it wants to exit the deal in early 2027.
George Binette, of the coalition, told a Hackney Council scrutiny meeting on 22 September: “And at this point in time, having spoken with Duncan from the Good Law Project yesterday, it does appear that government ministers are giving serious consideration to exercising the break clause.”
The decision falls to Yvette Cooper, who was appointed health and social care secretary in July in Andy Burnham’s first Cabinet reshuffle as prime minister. Ministers had ordered a full review of the Palantir contract in June. Over the summer, both the Commons science, innovation and technology committee and the health and social care committee called on the government to use the break clause.
Tom Nettle, deputy chief executive of the Homerton, told the council’s adults health and integration scrutiny commission that the trust’s new digital plan, signed off by its board in July, is built around improving its own electronic patient record rather than the national platform.
“So we have no active plans as I’ve set out a number of times before to use [the FDP] in our organisation, the provision of care that’s enshrined in this digital plan,” he said.
“That’s because our focus is on our electronic patient record and how we can improve that, and how we can try and make sure that the way we provide care in the organisation through that system is improved, that we can make sure that things speak to each other and that they’re integrated.”
Limited use
Council papers for the meeting show the trust already uses the platform in a limited capacity, to provide performance data to the London Ambulance Service through an application.
Nettle told the commission in July that this use complied with data protection standards. He said that if NHS England mandated the platform for performance data the trust would be obliged to comply, though no such mandate existed.
A year ago, the trust told the same commission it was actively reviewing potential uses of the platform.
Because NHS England procures the platform nationally, individual trusts are not obliged to adopt it. The coalition, which has campaigned for a year against the Homerton adopting the FDP, said it was reassured by the trust’s position.
Rising costs
Binette told councillors there was a widening gap between the platform’s cost and its expected benefits.
“There was an assessment conducted by the National Infrastructure Service Transformation Authority published this summer that concluded there was a growing gap between the cost of the Federated Data Platform, now estimated at some £1.1 billion, and the projected benefits from the platform estimated at around £808 million. So a gap of £292 million in the red.”
The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), a joint Cabinet Office and Treasury unit, revised the whole-life cost of the wider FDP programme to £1.1bn and cut forecast financial benefits to £808.28m, down from £1.042bn and £777m respectively in its previous assessment.
NISTA attributed the higher cost to “increased delivery at scale” and said the programme remains within its departmental baseline. Palantir has said the platform’s latest published benefit-to-cost ratio remains £4.92 for every £1 spent.
The £1.1bn figure covers the whole programme, not Palantir’s contract alone.
Patient trust
Pauline Moon, of Patients Not Passports, told the meeting: “We recognise that Homerton Hospital is committed to maintaining patient trust, but concerns that have been raised about Palantir Federated Data Platform are undermining this patient trust.”
She pointed to a letter from health innovation minister James Frith to Layla Moran, chair of the health and social care committee. In the letter, Frith said he was worried about mistrust of Palantir and its possible impact on people’s willingness to share data with the NHS. He cited around 60,000 additional withdrawals through the national data opt-out between mid-May and mid-July, a rise he described as modest. NHS England has said it cannot draw conclusions about cause and effect from the figures.
Frith’s letter also said trusts are not required to use the platform and may choose alternatives. The Department of Health and Social Care has said there has been no change in official policy.
Ethics questions
Councillors pressed Nettle on whether the Homerton could write ethical conduct requirements into its own software procurement.
“I’m not aware that there are any specific elements around ethical requirements. I’m not clear whether that’s something that we can introduce ourselves. I’m very happy to look into that and liaise with Jarlath to give you a more detailed response,” he said. Jarlath O’Connell is the commission’s support officer.
Binette urged the trust to examine the in-house analytics platform run by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board as an alternative. Asked about it, Nettle said: “If I’m being honest, chair, I wasn’t aware that they had an in-source system and I’m not 100 per cent certain what that system would be for necessarily.”
He offered to follow the matter up with councillors outside the meeting.
Nettle also acknowledged gaps in the trust’s joint digital work with the council, saying: “I’m sure there are opportunities for us to align that we’re not fully taking. I don’t think we are aligned on that as well as we could be and as well as we are in other parts of partnership working between the council and the trust.”
AI pilot
Nettle confirmed the Homerton already uses artificial intelligence in its complaints service. He also said the trust has been piloting ambient voice technology, which records consultations and drafts clinical notes and letters, only where patients agree.
“We’re in the process of currently looking at how we can roll that out more widely in the organisation where it makes sense to clinical services and where clinicians tell us it will benefit their practice and benefit patients,” he said.
He said patients would “always have the option at the beginning of that consultation to say that they don’t wish to have that technology”.
Chair’s remarks
Opening the item, Cllr Onapa described Palantir as “known for its links to abusive immigration enforcement and involvement in military operation”.
“But when organisations such as Palantir creep into our local services through unethical procurement practices, we have no other option but to respond,” he said. He later told the coalition’s representatives: “We honour your work.”
Campaign’s view
In a statement after the meeting, the coalition said: “HCAP representatives felt reassured that Homerton Hospital has no current plans to use Palantir’s FDP, though there may be concerns about other digital providers, which the coalition may raise in the future. Meanwhile, we are hopeful that the government will implement the break clause in NHS (England) contract with Palantir. The government must make a decision by 3 December.”
