NHSE official warns staff over criticism of Palantir’s FDP

A senior NHS official is reported to have warned staff about voicing criticism on the rollout of the federated data platform (FDP).

US software data analytics firm Palantir signed a £330m contract in 2023 to provide the FDP, but there has been protest from clinicians and human rights groups about the firm’s provision of surveillance software to government agencies including the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to the Financial Times, an NHS analytics official who questioned the need for the platform after its rollout at the hospital he works at, received a phone call from a senior official threatening his job if he spoke out again.

The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told the newspaper that he is “not the only one inside the NHS who has been warned off criticising the tool publicly”.

Dr Marc Farr, chair of the Chief Data and Analytical Officer Network (CDAON), told Digital Health News that “the network, on behalf of its members, is concerned to hear of accusations of bullying in relation to the tool and aims to provide a supportive environment where concerns can be raised about the platform or any other aspect of the role of an NHS analyst”.

He added that the CDAON is “providing a critical friend function to NHSE around the FDP”, something he discussed in an opinion piece for Digital Health News in February this year.

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for NHS England told Digital Health News: “We take any complaints of this nature from staff extremely seriously and would urge anyone with concerns to come forward and report them.

“We are working closely with colleagues across the NHS to support the rollout of the federated data platform, which is already joining up care for patients, speeding up cancer diagnosis and ensuring thousands of additional patients can be treated each month, while saving money for local NHS organisations and taxpayers.”

Commenting on the issue, Duncan McCann, technology and data lead at campaign group the Good Law Project, told Digital Health News: “When NHS staff see risks to patients, it’s their duty to speak up, so NHS leaders responding to these concerns with threats is a danger to us all.

“If managers impose technology on the health service with intimidation, that tech is destined to fail.”

Dr Devan Moodley, a former NHS doctor who is now chief executive at Health Connect Global told Digital Health News: “The reports of NHS staff being warned against raising concerns about the FDP should trouble anyone who cares about the future of health technology in this country.

“Innovation depends on honest feedback from all stakeholders, clinicians, frontline staff, administrators and of course patients.

“When you silence voices, you don’t get adoption, you get compliance. And compliance without conviction produces systems that may look good on a dashboard but will fail patients on the ground.

“The NHS doesn’t lack data. It lacks the culture and infrastructure to turn data into informed decisions at the point of care.”

NHS staff recently raised concerns about engineers working for Palantir being issued NHS email accounts which enable access to staff details.

However Palantir said that this was “normal practice for government suppliers” and that suppliers were encouraged to use government systems because they are more secure than their own systems.

The latest controversy comes as MPs are set to debate the FDP at Westminster Hall on 16 April.

A review of NHSE’s contract with Palantir is due in early 2027, but government officials have been reported to be considering triggering a break clause.