Key Summary
- NHSE plans to give Palantir and other external staff “admin” roles.
- It would entail broad access to identifiable patient data on the federated data platform.
- The move has raised concerns about risks to public trust and data security.
NHS England is granting Palantir staff "unlimited access" to identifiable patient data while working on its flagship National Data Integration Tenant (NDIT) platform, the Financial Times has reported.
NHS England has agreed to create an "admin" role granting non-staff "unlimited access" to the NDIT and identifiable patient data, the daily said, citing an internal briefing note.
The NDIT is housed under the Federated Data Platform (FDP), which links disparate NHS datasets into a single system.
Palantir was awarded a £330m contract to help build the FDP, installing AI systems to integrate scattered health datasets and bring efficiencies to medical treatment.
An NHS spokesperson said Britain's health service has "strict policies" governing access to patient data and conducts regular audits to ensure compliance.
Any external access requires government security clearance and approval from a director-level official, the spokesperson added.
Palantir is legally designated as a "data processor", while its customers are "data controllers", meaning its software can process data only in line with customer instructions, a spokesperson for the firm said.
Concerns about the security of patient records have been raised by many MPs. York Central MP Rachael Maskell, a former NHS worker, want the Palantir project to be stopped.
She told The Guardian, “As Palantir get their claws deeper into our NHS data we can see how it is opening it up to greater private interest. This is a dangerous development and I ask the government to get a grip on this project before it is too late.”
The Patients Association said it was concerned patients were not consulted on a significant change to who has unlimited access to patient data.
Palantir also supports US president Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown and the Israeli, US and UK militaries.
This news comes amid recent breaches in health‑data security. Research data from UK Biobank were reportedly discovered for sale on Alibaba’s e‑commerce platforms, prompting an investigation.
