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Why There Are Concerns over the NHS Partnership with Palantir | FT #shorts

The Financial Times reports that NHS England is expanding its £330 million Federated Data Platform (FDP) to give a handful of external contractors, including those from Palantir, direct access to identifiable patient information. Under the new arrangement a single administrative role will grant approved users unlimited access to the ‘national data integration tenant’, a raw‑data safe haven that normally requires a formal request for each dataset. The change is intended to speed up data‑driven projects, but critics argue it dilutes existing safeguards. An internal briefing note admits the move could damage public confidence, while Palantir insists it can only process data under explicit NHS instruction and cannot use it for commercial purposes. Proponents say the platform will help hospitals cut waiting‑list times and better allocate capacity. If the expanded access is not tightly monitored, the partnership could trigger regulatory scrutiny and erode trust in the NHS’s handling of sensitive health data, even as it promises operational efficiencies.