Palantir lobbied for access to GP data, messages reveal

'The logic of joining up primary and secondary care data is unarguable'

WhatsApp messages obtained by legal campaigning group Foxglove show Palantir lobbying a former health minister to extend its data platform to include GP records, even though GP data was explicitly excluded from the original NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) contract.

The messages, obtained through a FoI request, feature conversations between former health minister Zubir Ahmed and what appears to be Palantir UK head Louis Mosley from July 2025 to March 2026.

According to the exchanges, which Foxglove shared with The Guardian, Palantir argued that “the logic of joining up primary and secondary [care] data is unarguable” and described its software as “ideal” for the task.

Scope creep

Extending the platform to GP data would cross a clear red line previously set by the government, although, as Computing reported in May, there have already been signs of scope creep or at the very least poor implementation. External contractors working on the FDP, including reportedly from Palantir, were able to access identifiable patient information before it was pseudonymised.

The latest messages appear to show that Palantir is seeking more direct ways to join primary and secondary care records and thus become even more embedded in the NHS.

The revelation comes at a time when the government is considering a break clause in the £330 million FDP contract which could be triggered in February 2027. Recent media reports suggest that health secretary Yvette Cooper will reject this option on the grounds that it would be disruptive to NHS operations.

However, Foxglove's head of communications Tom Hegarty rejected the notion that ending the contract in February would be infeasible. “The reported claim that it would not be ‘practical to replace Palantir within the next four months’ is, frankly, nonsense,” he said in a blog post. “If the FDP contract is not renewed, Palantir is contractually obligated to provide bridging support for up to two years.”

Cooper has indicated that Palantir might be replaced by a homegrown solution, once its contract expires in 2029, but this would be even more difficult were the scope of the FDP to be expanded.

Meanwhile, the business case for the FDP was recently questioned, with some NHS data specialists describing Palantir's Foundry platform as expensive, proprietary and less capable than some existing NHS analytical tools. In July, more than 100 NHS data and technology specialists called for the Palantir contract to be terminated, warning that a lack of transparency could undermine patient trust.

Vendor lock-in

The counterargument is that the NHS’s notoriously complex data systems would benefit from being more joined together under one roof, potentially increasing efficiency and reducing duplication, information gaps and forced workarounds. However, being over-reliant on one overseas supplier carries obvious risks of its own, particularly at a time of increased political tensions.

Stuart Harvey, CEO of software company Datactics, commented: “We’re seeing scope creep happen in real time, not through a single big decision, but through a proprietary system becoming the default place where data gets integrated.

“The NHS should definitely be seeking better outcomes for patients through AI innovation, but its leadership in this field will be undermined if the privacy of its infrastructure cannot be assured.”

Sachin Agrawal, managing director of Zoho UK, said: “Palantir privately pressing to extend its contract shows what can happen once critical healthcare infrastructure becomes dependent on vendors who don’t store their data within the UK, that the government risks losing control over how that data is governed, and with it the public’s confidence.”