NHS deal with AI firm Palantir called into question after officials’ concerns revealed | NHS

Palantir’s NHS Contract Faces Public Backlash as Officials Warn of ‘Vital’ £330M Deal’s Future

Health officials have privately warned that Palantir’s controversial reputation could derail the delivery of a “vital” £330 million NHS contract, sparking renewed calls to scrap the deal entirely. The US surveillance tech giant, known for its work with the Israeli military and Donald Trump’s ICE operations, was selected in 2023 to build an AI-enabled data platform connecting disparate health information across the NHS.

Public Perception Threatens Rollout

Newly revealed briefing documents show Whitehall officials warned that Keir Starmer’s demand for faster deployment would be hampered by negative public perception of Palantir. By last summer, fewer than half of health authorities in England had started using the technology amid fierce opposition from both the public and doctors. The British Medical Association has threatened that its members could refuse to use parts of the system due to Palantir’s role in targeting ICE raids in the US.

Political Fallout and Transparency Demands

The controversy deepened when Palantir was called “ghastly” and “a highly questionable organisation” by MPs in the House of Commons. The fallout from Peter Mandelson’s relationship with convicted child sexual abuse offender Jeffrey Epstein has also tainted Palantir’s image, as the company employed Mandelson’s lobbying firm, Global Counsel.

Before his sacking, Mandelson took Starmer to meet Palantir’s CEO Alex Karp at the company’s Washington showroom. MPs have since demanded greater transparency around Palantir’s public sector deals, which also include a £240 million contract with the Ministry of Defence and agreements with several police forces.

Internal Warnings and Public Concerns

In a private briefing for Health Secretary Wes Streeting before a June 2025 meeting with Palantir’s European boss Louis Mosley, Department of Health officials wrote: “The public perception of the [Federated Data Platform (FDP)] during the procurement, and then in delivery, has been affected by the profile of Palantir.”

The officials admitted they didn’t know the extent to which this was impacting delivery but warned it would “make it harder to go further with the FDP, and to encourage the inclusion of GP data locally.” The rollout has also been affected by debates about patient privacy and concerns about the NHS being “locked-in” to a single vendor.

Campaigners Call for Contract Termination

Donald Campbell, director of advocacy at Foxglove, a tech fairness campaign group, said: “The prime minister and the health secretary should listen to the public they serve when they tell them Palantir has no place in the NHS. They should not be scheming with tech billionaires’ staff on how best they can ‘mitigate’ the ‘public perception’ problems these tech giants deservedly face through their own repellent behaviour.”

The BMA stated it has “long opposed the involvement of Palantir in the delivery of care and the use of patient data in our NHS” and expressed concern that the government dismissed public concern as “misconceptions.”

Implementation Challenges

Despite government efforts, new figures show that the number of NHS organisations using Palantir technology has increased from 118 to 151 since June, still well short of the target of 240 by the end of this year. The briefing document suggested Streeting could ask Palantir how to speed up rollout and consider revisiting “regulations relating to confidential patient information.”

Controversial Origins and Leadership

Palantir was co-founded by Trump supporter and billionaire Peter Thiel, who has previously said “the NHS makes people sick” and described British public affection for the NHS as “Stockholm syndrome.” The former Conservative government minister David Davis warned the government now faces a “huge value-for-money issue” over the Palantir contract, citing “naivety in the senior management of the NHS” in awarding a contract to a company with “spectacular baggage in terms of its genesis in the American security state.”

John Puntis, co-chair of the Keep Our NHS Public campaign, called it “another example of a hugely wasteful IT contract” that will be unworkable due to lack of public trust. “They ought to end the contract or not renew it,” he said. “They should accept that the public is very concerned and it is going to make the use of public data very difficult if people think it’s going to be accessed by a company like Palantir.”

Company Response and Government Defense

A Palantir spokesperson defended the company’s work, stating: “Palantir software is helping to deliver better public services in the UK. That includes delivering 99,000 more NHS operations and reducing hospital discharge delays by 15%, as well as helping the Royal Navy keep ships at sea for longer and the police to tackle domestic violence.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson countered: “The Federated Data Platform is already delivering for the NHS – helping to join-up patient care, increase hospital productivity, speed up cancer diagnosis and ensure thousands of additional patients can be treated each month. All providers go through a rigorous, competitive procurement process in line with Government legislation. All data operates under the instruction of the NHS, with strict stipulations in the contract about confidentiality.”

NHS England declined to comment on the ongoing controversy surrounding the contract’s future.

Tags: NHS contract controversy, Palantir surveillance technology, NHS data platform backlash, Keir Starmer Palantir meeting, Wes Streeting health secretary, Peter Thiel NHS criticism, ICE operations Palantir, British Medical Association Palantir opposition, Foxglove tech fairness campaign, NHS public trust issues, Federated Data Platform rollout problems, Palantir Ministry of Defence contract, Jeffrey Epstein Peter Mandelson connection, NHS IT contract waste, patient data privacy concerns, Trump supporter Peter Thiel, NHS Stockholm syndrome comment, hospital discharge delays reduction, NHS operations increase, Royal Navy Palantir technology, police domestic violence technology

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