NHS staff resist using Palantir software
- Reference: 1775234218
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/04/03/nhs_staff_against_palantir/
- Source link:
NHS staff, both clinical and otherwise, were quoted this week as saying that their coworkers were boycotting Palantir's Federated Data Platform (FDP), part of the [1]£330 million contract awarded to the company in 2023 to build the system for the health service. The FDP is designed to connect various NHS systems into a single searchable database to help clear care backlogs.
The UK had a troubled relationship with Palantir even before the contract was awarded, with privacy fears and worries over Palantir's close relationship with the US government top of mind for officials and the general public alike. Since its adoption, some care boards have [2]delayed their implementations due to an unwillingness to use the system, and the British Medical Association has even [3]called for doctors to stop using it over [4]Palantir's recent work with ICE on its deportation efforts under the Trump administration.
[5]
Those are among the reasons NHS professionals gave to the Financial Times in a Thursday [6]report on NHS boycotts of the FDP, with many saying simply that they didn't feel comfortable using a system built by Palantir.
[7]
[8]
One official reportedly described Palantir as "ethically bankrupt" in justifying his refusal to use the software, and noted that he knows of coworkers who deliberately slow their work pace when forced to use the system. Another noted that the system actually "doesn't do anything new for us," and said they prefer to work around it, but that they also feel a tinge of ethical guilt whenever they have to use it.
"It makes me feel sick every time I log into the thing and I know I'm not alone in that," the individual told the FT.
[9]
Despite widespread worry within the NHS over Palantir's role in the health service and its access to UK citizens' data, its lack of transparency around the original award seems to be the key reason UK government officials are [10]pushing the org to kill its deal by exercising a break clause in the contract.
[11]Campaigners claim NHS Palantir system could be accessed by police and immigration
[12]Palantir's lethal AI weaponry deployed to find chairs for US government staff
[13]Pentagon AI chief praises Palantir tech for speeding battlefield strikes
[14]'Lethal' and 'magical' Palantir tech is in demand by Pentagon, China, Middle East, CEO says
Palantir has criticized the push from within the UK government to break the contract as ideologically motivated, which MPs have [15]rejected . Instead, they argue that it's all about the contract award and what's happening to patient data Palantir touches.
Despite the push, Palantir's role in the UK government still isn't shrinking: Just last week, it was revealed that the Financial Conduct Authority has signed a [16]three-month trial contract with Palantir to help it make sense of its sprawling data lake of financial complaints and data.
It marks another expansion of Palantir's UK government footprint in 2026, despite the government [17]claiming it wanted to become more sovereign in its tech buying, with the Ministry of Defence publishing details in January of a follow-on data and software agreement with the company. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/22/palantir_wins_nhs_contract/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/20/manchester_nhs_fdp_deferred/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/11/bma_palantir_nhs/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/21/ice_enlists_palantir_to_develop/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2adA4gj8sT2MNHqR1mZR8FQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.ft.com/content/dbb67083-bd1d-46e9-b196-1438d54c5795?syn-25a6b1a6=1
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44adA4gj8sT2MNHqR1mZR8FQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33adA4gj8sT2MNHqR1mZR8FQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44adA4gj8sT2MNHqR1mZR8FQAAAIU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/05/calls-to-halt-uk-palantir-contracts-grow-amid-lack-of-transparency-over-deals
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/12/medact_palantir/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/10/palantir_usda_seating_software/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/13/palantirs_maven_smart_system_iran/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/03/palantir_lethal_magical_china_middle_east/
[15] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/01/mp-palantir-claims-criticism-nhs-england-deal
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/23/palantir_fca/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/20/uk_palantir_contracts/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
> One official reportedly described Palantir as "ethically bankrupt" in justifying his refusal to use the software,
Well said, Sir.
Dear Messrs. Thiel and Karp: FYI: That's how *normal* people, e.g. the ones, that do not dependent on your goodwill and are not bribed by Palantir, think about the crap you are selling and the stance openly displayed by its management.
Wonder who made the decision to use Palantir-infested code in something as sensible as the NHS, especially under the pretense of "improving care" ...
Come on guys, leave some space between hard sarcasm and reality, OK?
Don't forget to address the delightful Mr Mosley too
Degeneration
Everyone knows.
There is no reason whatsoever for Palantir to do any business in the UK, let alone touching sensitive data accessible to US government under US Cloud Act and yet here we are.
Can someone working at NCA, SFO or MI5 explain why they draw their salary and presumably still look at themselves in the mirror?
Answers on a postcard.
Re: Degeneration
Best guess? [1]They don't .
[1] https://youtube.com/shorts/h-IQLoOkJQI
Resisting using Palatair crapware?
Keep calm and carry on.
I think that you might well find the public are behind you (not the panto behind you)
don't link Palantir to ICE or Gaza
Palantir would not suddenly become acceptable if Israel stopped bombing Gaza and Lebanon,
Palantir would not suddenly become acceptable if American immigration officers learned to say "Thank you for showing me your passport, Sir/Madam, Welcome to our country".
The very name shows that the purpose of Palantir is to know everything about everyone.
It also seems very strange that a gay man like Thiel would associate with fascists. Has he never heard of the Night of the Long Knives, 30 June 1934, when the Nazis slaughtered their senior gay members?
Palantir is an intrinsically unacceptable company, whether or not they deal with ICE, Israel or Satan himself.
It is intrinsically unacceptable that the personal data in my medical record be sent out of my country, where there is some fig leaf of personal data protection, to Trumpistan, where the CLOUD ACT appropriates all data from everywhere.
Re: don't link Palantir to ICE or Gaza
Also this https://jmail.world/thread/EFTA02447696?view=inbox
It also seems very strange that a gay man like Thiel would associate with fascists.
I'd not be surprised if he genuinely believes it's OK when he does it.
After all, you don't get to where you are with a company like Palantir, without immense hypocrisy and moral disconnect from society.
In fact: that's a feature, not a flaw.
Disappointed
I always thought the Brits were smarter than the Americans. Guess not, UK officials are just as prone to a little scratch as the Americans.
Yet again the shit company gets the deal
It seems as if UK governments and officials gravitate towards corrupt, incompetent or just generally dishonest companies. Palantir, Crapita,Fujitsu.....Flies do come to mind.
"ideologically motivated,"
Isn't that pretty much the definition of having ethical concerns ?
Wouldn't matter who it was
The NHS machine would still work against it.
We need to realise that the NHS, currently at least, is the last refuge of a large scale, heavily unionised workforce, and those unions, from the BMA down to Unison, will block any improvements or reforms that might slim down NHS staff numbers or improve efficiency.
This is the largest single employer in Europe, with more than 1.5 MILLION employees.
Patient outcomes are irrelevant. The NHS is run for the staff and the unions first, patients are a distant second.
Remember Blair's flagship NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), launched in 2002?
Its considered one of the largest ever public sector IT failures in the UK, costing over £10 billion. And it failed because of the unions. That was given to a number of players, including BT, Accenture, CSC and Fujitsu.
It just wouldn't matter who it was, the unions will block IT.
Re: Wouldn't matter who it was
That's a very cynical comment. I mean Palantir are likely the worst company in the entire world for handling British medical data, but you're right its a tough crowd to win over.
Swallowing your personal medical data
I'd rather trust a ravenous pit bull terrier than Palantir.