Palantir told Ahmed: “The FDP is already delivering very strong results – but will deliver even more benefits faster with the right ministerial sponsorship.” The firm pointed to more effective and targeted management of frail patients, and to more effective preventative care.
The lobbying leaves ministers with a choice the previous government had set aside: whether GP data, previously ruled out of scope for the FDP, should now sit on a platform already used elsewhere in the NHS.
The firm pressed its case with the minister, Ahmed. A Palantir executive told him that “the politics is not straightforward – the previous government ruled GP data out of scope when announcing the FDP.”.
Palantir said it had long argued that data sharing could improve the NHS for patients and taxpayers, and that its software helped different NHS organisations do that “while ensuring they maintain full local control over their data.” It also said the platform would “maintain local control of data.”. Campbell said it was “appalling to see Palantir pressuring the minister to bring GP records into its platform, despite pledges from the government in 2023 that this would not happen.”.
Doctors said the move could undermine trust between patients and clinicians. Critics said it would cut against a 2023 government pledge that GP records would not be brought into Palantir’s platform. “Patients must be able to seek care without worrying which operators might have access to duplicates of their personal information,” he said.