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Palantir NHS Data Platform: 29 Trusts Listed as Realising Benefits Say It Is Not Live or Not Used, Guardian Reports

Bot Mutiny | November 2, 2026

The Guardian reported on 2 November 2026 that 29 hospital trusts which NHS England publicly lists as "realising benefits" from Palantir's NHS federated data platform have said, in freedom of information responses, that the system is not live or that they are not using any of its applications. In an exclusive, the Guardian said the apparent gap between the NHS claim and the trusts' understanding was described as "very misleading" by one senior health official. The £330m platform, known as the FDP, is delivered under a contract that began in 2024.

What the freedom of information responses show

The Guardian said the contrast emerged from more than 100 freedom of information requests, which were obtained by Medact, a medical charity campaigning for Palantir to be removed from the NHS, and shared with the newspaper. NHS England states on its website that 137 trusts are "live" with the FDP. Of those it describes as "realising benefits", 29 responded that they were either not using the system or not using its applications.

The Guardian quoted several trusts. Epsom and St Helier said it was "not using FDP at the moment". Kent and Medway said the trust "has been focused on other priorities" and that the FDP is not currently live. Mersey Care said it had "not yet gone live with the FDP". Nottingham University Hospitals said "no implementation timeline has been agreed". University Hospitals of North Midlands said: "FDP is not live. We do not intend to roll it out in the future."

Marc Farr, chair of the NHS Chief Data and Analytics Officers Network, said he was concerned to hear that 29 trusts were reported as receiving benefits but were not using the tool, adding that for public support it is crucial that benefits are "reported accurately, transparently and in a way that can be properly verified." He also said it is "great that a number of trusts that have adopted the FDP are benefiting from this nationally funded programme".

NHS England's response

NHS England told the Guardian that nearly 140 trusts "have now reported benefits from the wide range of tools available on the platform, helping staff join up and improve care for patients, and work more efficiently." The Guardian said NHS England has previously stated that its list of trusts reporting benefits includes those using the tools for back office data analysis and submission rather than to support patient care. The Guardian said it is understood that trusts saying they do not use the FDP may use a small part of its functionality to help calculate treatment costs. Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, for example, said it is "not currently operationally using the FDP", but NHS England records it as live because infrastructure is in place "to support data submission, rather than active operational use of FDP apps."

Earlier scrutiny of NHS England's figures

NHS England claims that trusts using the FDP carried out 117,539 more operations in a year. The Guardian said that this summer NHS England conceded it could not prove cause and effect, and that the Office for Statistics Regulation ran an investigation. Asked about the claim that trusts are "realising benefits", the regulator told the Guardian it will now be "taking this forward under our casework function".

Political pressure and Palantir's position

The report said the health secretary, Yvette Cooper, faces calls from MPs and campaigners to cancel Palantir's contract. Chi Onwurah, chair of the Commons science and technology committee, said: "If many NHS trusts don't see the value of the FDP, serious questions need to be asked about whether the hype surrounding Palantir's products matches reality." She called on the government to activate a break clause in 2027 and run an open competition for a UK-owned supplier. The Commons health select committee is also calling for ministers to withdraw from the deal, the Guardian reported.

Medact spokesperson Dr Rhiannon Mihranian Osborne said: "There is no good reason for the government to continue this failing project. We now have to ask, if ministers are using these flawed claims to make their decision, are they being misled?"

Palantir's UK and Europe chief executive, Louis Mosley, said ending the contract would be "putting politics above patients" and accused critics of "Palantir Derangement Syndrome". A Palantir spokesperson said: "Palantir software is helping to deliver better care, with trusts using it recording 117,000 additional operations, a 14.3% reduction in discharge delays for long stay patients and a 5.6% improvement in the number of people finding out whether or not they have cancer within 28 days." The Guardian said Palantir last month hired Tom Watson, Labour's former deputy leader, as a full-time senior lobbyist.