Do you Work in the NHS in West Yorkshire?

If so, you may have heard of systems such as Optica or Referral to Treatment (RTT). Each of these systems is a Federated Data Platform (FDP) product produced by the US Tech company Palantir.

The FDP is software that takes data from numerous systems used by the NHS. It will hold individual health records for over 50 million NHS users, gathered from over 240 hospitals and 42 commissioning authorities (ICBs) across England.

Palantir's contract is up for renewal due to a "break clause" this year which gives the government an opportunity to terminate it at the start of 2027.

We, the West Yorkshire branch of the No Palantir in the NHS campaign, will collect signatures for this OPEN LETTER and submit to the West Yorkshire ICB meeting on March 24th to demand they stop the rollout of Palantir's data platform in our NHS.

Here are the 8 things you should know about Palantir, and their product for the NHS; the Federated Data Platform, and why you should sign our letter to the West Yorkshire ICB, to pause/reject the rollout and review this product further.

8 things you should know about Palantir and the FDP:

1. Palantir is a US military-tech company with no track record in healthcare. Currently, US immigration agents, ICE, are using a Palantir developed app which mines American's health data to hunt people.
2. The NHS gave Palantir a £330 million contract to create the Federated Data Platform (FDP) to integrate NHSE data - the largest respoitory of health data in the world.
3. Many Trusts and ICB's have raised concerns about the FDP rollout, with some refusing implementation altogether.
4. The British Medical Association (BMA) voted to resist the rollout of the FDP based on the view that Palantir was an unacceptable partner for the NHS.
5. The Good Law Project took legal action against NHSE over Palantir's contract.
6. The FDP's procurement process lacks transparency and key stakeholder engagement, and NHS data professionals have raised multiple concerns.
7. Investigations have reavealed that the FDP product is costing the NHS a lot more than originally stated.
8. Palantir have stated their intention to monopolise government contracts. Outsourcing important data management systems to a private company, will create a vendor lock in.
   

Amidst huge financial pressures and staffing cuts, investing in software that lacks efficiency and furthers privatization of public services will put NHS data at risk, and increase these pressures.

Help us raise these concerns with the West Yorkshire ICB. Follow in the footsteps of other Integrated Care Boards and Trusts who have rejected tech that undermines public trust, compromises our commitment to protecting patients, and presents significant risk to NHS values.

Please sign this petition/OPEN LETTER and we will make sure your voice is represented. Only your job title and place of work will be shared with the ICB and WY Acute trusts if you choose to remain anonymous.

Sign and share now!