NHS England has granted staff from Palantir and other external contractors unlimited access to identifiable patient data within its flagship £330 million data platform — a disclosure that has drawn immediate condemnation from MPs, privacy campaigners and medical groups and reignited a fierce debate about the role of a controversial American technology firm at the heart of British healthcare.
The change was first reported by the Financial Times, which cited an internal briefing note written by a senior NHS data official in April 2026. NHS England has agreed to create a new “admin” role that grants non-NHS staff “unlimited access” to the National Data Integration Tenant (NDIT), described in the document as a “safe haven for data” before it is “pseudonymised” and shared with other systems. The patient data held within the NDIT is identifiable.
The briefing document itself acknowledged that granting enhanced permissions could mean there is a “risk of loss of public confidence” when it comes to safeguards — an admission that critics say underscores the gravity of the decision. Until now, anyone working with the NDIT was required to apply for specific data access permissions on a case-by-case basis. The new arrangement sweeps that process aside in the name of efficiency, allowing engineers working on the platform’s internal pipelines to view identifiable records without individual authorisations.
An NHS England spokesperson said: “Anyone external requiring access must have government security clearance and be approved by a member of NHS England staff at director level or above.” Palantir described its position as analogous to that of a data processor rather than a data controller, saying its software “can only be used to process data precisely in line with the instruction of the customer.”
That reassurance has not satisfied critics. Labour MP Rachael Maskell, who has been calling for the FDP contract to be scrapped, described the development as dangerous and has explicitly invited ministers to intervene. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn posted on X: “Palantir has been granted ‘unlimited access’ to NHS patient data. This is the same company that is involved in mass surveillance and genocide. We did not consent to this. Get Palantir out of our NHS, now.”
Palantir’s background is central to the controversy. The US data analytics company has well-known links to intelligence and defence sectors, has secured contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence and the Financial Conduct Authority since winning the NHS FDP bid, and is reported to be close to a deal with the Metropolitan Police to apply AI to intelligence analysis. Its previous work with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has been a recurring flashpoint for critics who question why a company with such a profile holds such a sensitive position within the NHS.
Polling found more than two thirds of the UK public are concerned about Palantir’s growing list of public contracts, with 40 per cent saying they do not trust the company not to access NHS data for its own purposes.
Some NHS staff members have refused to use the FDP over their ethical concerns, with others stating that the platform is “awful” to use. Multiple reports have emerged of ministers and officials seeking advice on whether they can use a break clause in the contract when it comes up for review in early 2027.
NHS England says the platform has already delivered measurable benefits, pointing to around 114 extra surgeries per month per trust in some early pilots. Supporters of the project argue that integrating fragmented NHS data is a genuine clinical necessity that has been delayed for too long, and that the risks of inaction — in terms of avoidable harm caused by poor data coordination — are at least as serious as the privacy concerns.
The Commons technology committee already has the project in its sights, and with the contract review approaching and public trust in question, parliamentary pressure on NHS England to restrict and time-limit external access is expected to intensify significantly in the coming weeks.
