Palantir's NHS future in doubt as ministers eye contract break

Contract under scrutiny

It has been reported that ministers are weighing a break clause that could cut short the £330 million deal tying Palantir to the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP). Junior health minister Zubir Ahmed told MPs his "north star" is patient safety and value for money — and that if, at the renewal point next spring, other suppliers can demonstrably do a better job, the contract should be rethought. Short and sharp: the government now faces a choice between sticking with a controversial US "spy‑tech" supplier or trying to untangle a costly subscription before it becomes permanent.

User complaints and IP row

Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley has been leading the charge, arguing the FDP is "awful to use" and benefits only a fraction of trusts. He says — and it has been reported that — the contract was written as a subscription service that leaves the NHS with no software deliverables or intellectual property on termination; those rights allegedly remain with the supplier. Ouch. That claim, if true, points to permanent lock‑in: custom connector code embedded in individual trusts, Palantir‑owned middleware spread through the system. Staff have called parts of the platform demoralising, and only about half of the roughly 200 trusts signed up are live, with maybe a quarter reporting any benefit.

What's next for the FDP?

So what happens now? Ministers have been nudged by MPs and unions to consider a staged exit and re‑tender for UK firms — a push that echoes wider sovereign tech policy and last year's talk of "British capabilities" from ministers. Science minister Patrick Vallance has signalled a different approach at renewal time. Palantir won the FDP alongside consultancies including Accenture and PwC, and the deal traces back to pandemic-era contracts worth some £60 million that started with an odd £1 award in 2020, it has been reported. The emotional core here is simple: front-line NHS staff who are demoralised by tools that don't help them deserve better. If ministers act, they must do more than shuffle the deck — they need a plan that delivers usable systems and, crucially, hands Britain back some control.

Sources: The Register