Burnham hunts for British replacement for Palantir: report
Key Points
- The government is searching for a British replacement for Palantir on the NHS FDP
- Quantexa is among three or four UK firms under consideration
- Ministers are weighing a 12-month extension or splitting the contract
- The MoD is also sounding out alternatives to its Palantir contract
- MPs called for the break clause to be exercised in July
Andy Burnham’s government is searching for a British firm to replace Palantir on its £330 million NHS data contract, the Financial Times reports.
Ministers have identified three or four UK technology companies, including Quantexa, as possible candidates to run the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), according to the FT.
The government is also considering a temporary 12-month extension for Palantir to buy time for a British alternative, or splitting the programme between several suppliers.
The FT added that the Ministry of Defence is sounding out alternative suppliers for its own Palantir contract, as Burnham pushes for more government spending to go to UK businesses.
MPs called for a replacement in July
The search follows a call from MPs in July for the government to exercise the break clause in its Palantir contract and drop the FDP.
The cross-party Health and Social Care Committee set out its position in a letter to Preet Kaur Gill, the health innovation minister at the time, following an evidence session on the platform on 16 June.
The Committee backed a Science and Technology Committee recommendation that the government either build an in-house replacement or seek an alternative from UK-owned and UK-based providers.
It cited serious mistrust of the Palantir-built platform among both the public and the medical profession. The Committee warned that concerns over how the NHS uses and shares data could deter patients from sharing their medical information.
MPs also challenged the evidence behind the platform’s reported benefits, which the NHS listed as shorter waiting lists and more procedures carried out.
NHS England has since acknowledged that it cannot link those improvements directly to the FDP, as it did not control for other variables.
The Chief Data and Analytics Officer of the Chief Data and Analytical Officers Network told NHS England in a separate letter that many NHS systems already use tools that exceed what the FDP is trying to roll out.
“In the interest of public confidence in the NHS and the security of their medical information, we believe it is time to crack on with preparations to find an alternative in time for spring 2027,” said Layla Moran, chair of the Health and Social Care Committee.
“The FDP may have had some advantages, but there are also downsides and it is evidently not the only show in town,” Moran said.
