Palantir accuses BMA of ‘choosing ideology over patient interest’ amid NHS data row

The UK head of US tech firm Palantir has accused the BMA of putting ‘ideology over patient interest’ in its opposition to the company’s growing role in NHS data systems.

Louis Mosley made the comment to MPs this week, after the BMA passed a motion at its annual representative meeting (ARM) urging the NHS to cut ties with Palantir – calling it ‘an unacceptable choice of partner’ to handle patient data.

Palantir – a data analytics company known for its work with US intelligence and security agencies – was awarded a £330m, seven-year contract in 2023 to deliver the federated data platform (FDP). The FDP is intended to link together data from across NHS organisations to support both planning and direct care. It began rolling out in NHS trusts last year.

However, critics have raised concerns about Palantir’s track record in surveillance and policing, its ties to the US government, and a lack of transparency around how patient data might be accessed or used. The BMA motion argued that the partnership ‘threatens to undermine public trust in NHS data systems’.

In a parliamentary evidence session yesterday, Palantir’s UK chief Mr Mosley told the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee: ‘I think the BMA has chosen ideology over patient interest. As a patient and a user of the NHS, I want it to be as quick and effective and efficient as possible, and I’m very sad, frankly, that ideology seems to have taken precedence over those interests.’

But GP leaders pushed back strongly on the claim, saying the BMA’s concerns are grounded in sound principles of data governance, privacy and ethics.

Dr David Wrigley, the deputy chair of the BMA’s GP Committee for England, told Pulse: ‘All organisations contracted by the NHS to handle patient data must have a demonstrable positive track record on security, privacy, transparency and ethics. This is good data governance, not ideology.’

He added: ‘In light of this and ahead of the planned rollout of a single patient record, in whatever final form that may yet take, we believe that the NHS should review its contract to determine whether Palantir is still an appropriate provider for a digital healthcare platform.’ 

Dr Wrigley said the company’s past work was ‘completely incompatible with the values of the BMA’ and warned that patients may withhold information from GPs if they fear their data could be misused.

‘Patients will understandably be alarmed and may choose to withhold information from their doctor to the detriment of their care if they do not trust the organisation processing their data or there are fears about what the data might be used for’, he said. 

The row comes amid broader NHS plans to create a ‘single patient record’ by 2028, as set out in its 10-year plan published last week. NHS England has said this new record will need to integrate with systems such as the FDP and local electronic patient records.

Mr Mosley said he was ‘heartened’ by the ambitions in the plan and that Palantir has the technical capability to support access controls tailored to individual data controllers.

But he and NHS England’s interim transformation director Dr Vin Diwakar were pressed by MPs on who will ultimately have access to patient data held in these systems – particularly for secondary uses such as research.

Mr Mosley said there is currently no access to FDP data for research purposes and that any such use would need to be approved by the relevant NHS organisation.

Dr Diwakar said greater clarity is needed on which third parties – including international companies or researchers – could access NHS data. He cited UK Biobank as a model where researchers are bound by strict conditions and cannot share data beyond their project team.

The BMA has previously refused to support a government campaign to extract patient records from GP systems due to concerns about consent and transparency.

Commenting on the row, Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘No decisions have been made regarding the involvement of specific vendors in the Single Patient Record (SPR) project.

‘It is ludicrous that patients cannot see their own records and are treated by staff who do not have the full picture of their health, and we are determined to pull the NHS out of the dark ages.

‘We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of data privacy and security, and any decisions will be made with these principles in mind.’