Chair of Select Committee on Health and Social Care has concerns about Palantir in the NHS

 I wrote, recently, to Layla Moran, Chair of the Select Committee on Health and Social Care, asking that she attend the Westminster Hall debate on the NHS Federated Data Platform, onThursday April 16, which started at 3:10pm (Column 468WH, in Hansard).

She was unable to attend due to other commitments but has replied to outline her concerns and those of her party, the Liberal Democrats, about Palantir's role in the NHS.

Dear Ray,

Thank you for taking the time to write to me to raise your concerns around the involvement of Palantir within the NHS, these are concerns that both the Liberal Democrats and I share.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the Westminster Hall debate on the issue last Thursday but wanted to provide you with an update on our position on Palantir and the work we have been doing on this issue.

The Liberal Democrats are alarmed at the NHS’ growing reliance on complex, opaque digital systems which are being set up by Palantir.

Palantir’s background in security and surveillance marks a divergence from the traditional relationships between the NHS and firms with specialised medical knowledge.

The procurement process for the Federated Data Platform, awarded to Palantir in 2023, is worryingly opaque. It is still not clear how Palantir came to be granted a contract worth hundreds of millions of pounds. It is essential that the Government comes clean on exactly how this contract was awarded to a company mired in controversy with no medical background.

Amnesty International and others have raised worrying concerns that sensitive NHS patient data could be misused, re-identified, or shared beyond agreed purposes.

Doctors and the public have made it clear that they do not trust Palantir and it is time the Government showed leadership and developed alternatives for our NHS – which belongs to all of us.

I signed an EDM tabled by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Helen Morgan MP, on this issue. In this we call for full transparency on the process by which Palantir secured the NHS contract and call for an end to the contracts at the earliest possible date.

We are pleased to see our campaigning on this issue is bearing fruit, as Ministers are reported to be exploring a break clause in Palantir’s contracts with NHS England.

Wes Streeting must use this break clause and provide a clear timeline for Palantir’s removal from the NHS.

The Liberal Democrats will continue to stand up for a publicly funded NHS, with the privacy and security of patient’s data essential.

Thank you once again for taking the time to write to me on this issue.
 

Best wishes,

Layla

Layla Moran 

 

For information, the EDM she refers t, EDM 2868, tabled on 25 February 2026, on Palantir and the NHS, reads:

That this House condemns the Department for Health and Social Care over the lack of transparency and public scrutiny around the decision to grant Palantir the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract; highlights reports around Lord Mandelson's role in helping Palantir secure Government contracts; expresses regret at the impact this has had on public trust in politics; calls for the Government to publish any and all documents, minutes or correspondence between Ministers, Government Advisers or Senior Civil Servants and Palantir, Lord Mandelson or Global Counsel in relation to the FDP procurement process; further calls on the Government to publish full, unredacted versions of any agreements or contracts between the Department for Health and Social Care and Palantir; and urges the Secretary of State to develop British-based alternatives to Palantir systems so that the firm's NHS contracts can expire at the earliest possible date. 

 It currently has 57 signatures. You would think there should be a bit more interest in this amongst 650 MPs.