Freedom-of-information replies show multiple English NHS trusts rejecting Palantir’s £330 million federated data platform after its March 2024 introduction, with 16 trusts and health boards telling the Guardian they do not use it. Several trusts said the FDP offers no clear advantage over existing software: the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS trust said it provides no additional functionality, Dorset HealthCare said it will not adopt the FDP, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS foundation trust said it did not offer significant improvements on local systems. Greater Manchester’s care board described the system as “duplicative” and “retrograde,” while a Suffolk trust said other systems “supercede” the FDP. The FOI responses were collated by the campaign group Medact and posted on WhatDoTheyKnow. The findings complicate Andy Burnham’s government decision on whether to exercise a break clause in the seven-year NHS-Palantir deal, and come amid protests over Palantir’s other contracts and disputes about evidence of the FDP’s effectiveness. Palantir’s senior vice-president Tom Watson argued that open competition would have produced alternatives, and two parliamentary select committees including the Commons science and technology committee have urged the government to end the contract.
