Data firm Palantir has won a worth up to $415 million (ÂŁ330 million) to build a platform for Englandâs public health system data, alongside consultants Accenture and other smaller firms.
The deal will see Palantir roll out a âFederated Data Platformâ (FDP) that will combine health information from multiple data sources at both a local and national level.
The seven-year contract represents one the biggest data projects Englandâs National Health Service has invested in for years.
NHS England says it will âjoin up key information currently held in separate NHS systemsâ to âmaximise resourcesâ like operating theatre and outpatient clinic time, ensuring patients âreceive more timely care.â
The NHS is battling growing elective waiting lists and severe pressures on its emergency services as demand for service exceeds capacity and hospitals struggle to discharge patients into adequate social care. Ongoing staff strikes and the Covid-19 pandemic have squeezed services enormously over the last few years.
Nonetheless, the FDP project has been controversial since its inception, in part because of Palantirâs background as a supplier for defence agencies including the U.S.âs Central Intelligence Agency.
In 2020, Slate.com named it the fourth âmost evilâ tech company, in part for its role helping the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency target deportations under the Trump administration.
Beyond Palantirâs reputation, concerns have been raised over the security of data that will be held in the platform, as well as how useful it actually is. The procurement process has also faced heavy scrutiny from industry experts.
Palantirâs history in the NHS
The firm, which saw out competition for Englandâs FDP from IBM and Cerner Oracle, has been hotly-tipped to win the contract from the start. It already provides a pilot version of the platform to dozens of hospital trusts.
During the pandemic, Palantir provided software to track supplies of personal protective equipment and various data related to Covid-19. Both projects were initially controversial, with concerns raised over the procurement processes and the effectiveness of the products.
Still, Palantir expanded its Covid-19 activities and became heavily involved in NHS work over the next few years. The FDP builds on the firmâs Covid-19 data store work, which used its âFoundryâ solution.
Earlier this year it was awarded a $31 million (ÂŁ25 million) âtransition and exitâ contract to prepare its Foundry services to be replaced by the upcoming FDP. The deal was not awarded through an open procedure, according to industry publication HSJ.
HSJ also revealed this week that several trusts using a pilot version of the platform hadnât found it all that useful.
Concerns over data security â and confidence in that security â also remain. Some experts have queried why the platform would be led by a U.S. firm at all, given the country already has a U.K.-funded and operated federated data processing solution for research purposes.
âDoing it for patient services operationally is much easier,â University of Cambridge Marconi professor of communications systems Jon Crowcroft told the U.K.âs Science Media Center. âWhy give money to a sketchy overseas outfit with known behaviour that is not aligned with NHS ethos?â
NHS England says data used in the platform wonât be accessible to any firm involved in the bid without explicit permission from the service, nor will it be used for research purposes.
But that hasnât quelled campaigners, who are worried that so much sensitive data will be held in an infrastructure provided by the Palantir. In August, for example, legal firm Foxglove and others launched an emergency campaign to stop the FDPâs award to Palantir.
Experts have warned a lack of transparency could reduce public confidence in the project, undermining its potential benefits.
âThere is a huge responsibility in stewarding and governingâ the NHSâs enormous data assets, said Elena Simperl, professor of computer science at Kingâs College London. âEvery failure to maintain and restore public trust could inevitably lead to more people opting out of secondary uses of the data.â
Data, she says, thatâs extremely valuable âto improve how the NHS operates, to drive advances in scientific research, and to boost AI products and services.â