Another worrying development in the ongoing saga of NHS data
There’s been another worrying development in the ongoing saga of NHS data. The Observer newspaper reported: “NHS England has already instructed NHS Digital…to use Palantir’s operating platform called Foundry to collect patient data…including a person’s NHS number, date of birth, postcode and data about admission and inpatient activity”.
That’s right. Sinister US spy tech corporation Palantir is once again being handed a new role in handling NHS data. It looks suspiciously like a trial run for handing Palantir the £360million contract to run the whole “NHS Federated Data Platform”.
NHS England has revealed little else about the scheme. It’s being described as a “pilot”, and it’s claimed the aim is to help reduce waiting lists. Foxglove has huge concerns about Palantir’s involvement and the failure to provide patients with any say about how their health data is used.
Please could you help by raising these concerns with your local MP? Just click the link below, and enter your postcode, to find your MP and some suggestions for what to say:
If Foxglove supporters across the UK contact their MPs now, it will show politicians that patients aren’t happy about Palantir being part of the NHS. It will also remind them that patients must have a say in how their health data is used. It is our health data, so what happens to it must be our choice. It could also help us uncover more information about what’s going on.
Palantir has been eyeing up the NHS for several years. Foxglove and our partners have been resisting at every stage. There shouldn’t be any place in the NHS for a company with Palantir’s track record of working with US military operations, mass surveillance, predictive policing – let alone its links to Donald Trump. NHS patient data should be used with patients’ consent, and for patients’ benefit.