NHS patients are opting out of data-sharing amid Palantir trust concerns
A UK minister admits public mistrust of the US firm running NHS England's data platform may already be pushing patients to withdraw their records from research.
What happened: James Frith, the UK's health innovation minister, told a parliamentary committee chair he is worried that public mistrust of Palantir, the US firm running NHS England's federated data platform, is affecting people's willingness to share medical data. Roughly 60,000 additional patients withdrew their records from research and planning use between mid-May and mid-July, through the NHS's national opt-out system. Frith linked the rise to media coverage of Palantir's role. The government is now deciding whether to end the company's seven-year, £330m contract early using a break clause.
Why it matters: The federated data platform is meant to help NHS trusts plan surgeries, track waiting lists and speed up diagnoses using pooled patient data. If growing numbers of patients opt out, that pool shrinks, and Frith warned that goals in the government's 10-year health plan may become harder to reach. At the same time, doctors' groups and patient advocates argue the mistrust is rational, pointing to Palantir's military and immigration-enforcement work abroad and a past breach where its staff could see identifiable patient records without proper authorisation.
How it works, plainly: Opting out through the national data opt-out does not stop a patient's own doctors from using their records for direct care, such as surgery or treatment decisions. It only blocks that data being pooled for research and system-wide planning, which is where the federated data platform's analytics are meant to add value. Palantir says trusts using its platform have logged 110,000 extra operations, a 15% cut in discharge delays and faster cancer test results. NHS England has recorded similar figures but says it cannot confirm the platform caused them, and the UK's statistics watchdog is now reviewing the numbers.
The rollout: Frith has softened an earlier government line that NHS trusts "must use" the Palantir-run platform, now saying trusts can choose an alternative. Campaign group Foxglove and the health committee's chair, Layla Moran, welcomed that shift but want the government to drop Palantir entirely rather than wait until a decision expected around February. Palantir is separately suing London's mayor after he blocked it from a £50m Metropolitan Police contract, saying it doesn't share the city's values.