An investigation has revealed a significant discrepancy between claims made by NHS England about adoption of Palantir’s federated data platform and the actual usage reported by hospital trusts. Of 29 trusts that NHS England lists as “realising benefits” from the £330m AI system, more than two dozen indicated they are not using the technology or have not activated it operationally. The gap between the health service’s public statements and trusts’ reported status has drawn criticism from senior health officials who characterized the claims as “very misleading.”
NHS England previously stated that 117,539 additional operations were performed by trusts using the platform over the course of a year, but acknowledged over the summer that it could not establish a causal relationship between the platform and these outcomes. The Office for Statistics Regulation launched an investigation into the claims. Freedom of information requests obtained by Medact, a medical charity opposing the contract, revealed specific examples of trusts stating they had not gone live with the system or were not operationally using it, despite being counted among those benefiting from it. NHS England indicated that some trusts may be using limited functions for back-office data analysis and submission rather than direct patient care applications.
The controversy has intensified calls from MPs and campaign groups for the government to terminate Palantir’s contract. Multiple parliamentary committees have urged ministers to activate a break clause scheduled for 2027 and pursue alternative suppliers. Palantir has mounted a defense of its work, with the company’s UK leadership arguing that ending the contract would prioritize politics over patient care. The company recently hired a prominent Labour figure as a senior lobbyist to counter criticism regarding data lock-in concerns and other objections to its involvement with the NHS.
NHS officials and parliamentary figures have expressed concerns about the accuracy and transparency of reported benefits. Leadership at the NHS Chief Data and Analytics Officers Network stated that while some trusts have genuinely benefited from the platform, benefits must be reported accurately and in a manner that can be independently verified to maintain public confidence in NHS decision-making.
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