Palantir patient data tech rejected by many NHS trusts in England

According to Freedom of Information responses obtained by The Guardian, a number of NHS organisations in England have declined to adopt the federated data platform (FDP) supplied by US software company Palantir. The £330 million system, marketed as a unified patient‑data solution, has been praised by some trusts for easing the management of waiting lists and improving surgery scheduling. However, many other trusts reported that they either rejected the platform outright or ran pilot projects before reverting to their existing IT solutions. A trust in Suffolk said alternative systems “supercede” the functionality of Palantir’s FDP, while the Greater Manchester Care Board described the platform as “duplicative” and “retrograde”. The feedback gathered spans a geographic range from Gateshead in the north to Truro in the south‑west, indicating a widespread reluctance to replace current infrastructure. Health leaders cited concerns that the American‑owned platform does not offer clear advantages over the software already in use, and that the cost of the £330 million investment could be better allocated. The article notes that the FDP was intended to create a federated approach to patient data across the NHS, but the mixed responses suggest that many trusts believe they can achieve comparable outcomes with existing or locally chosen systems. The Guardian’s coverage characterises Palantir as a controversial US firm, and the article frames the findings as an exclusive insight into health bodies’ attitudes. Freedom‑of‑information requests revealed that at least a dozen trusts have formally declined the FDP, while several others are still evaluating alternatives. Critics argue that the platform’s federated architecture could raise data‑governance concerns, whereas supporters claim it could standardise patient information across disparate NHS IT ecosystems. The mixed reactions underscore the challenge of implementing a single national data platform in a system that already uses a patchwork of legacy applications. No definitive assessment of the platform’s performance has been published, and the NHS has not announced any further rollout plans pending the outcome of these trust‑level decisions.