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NHS staff have been told they might lose their jobs if they criticise NHS England’s controversial £330m contract with IDF-contractor Palantir.
According to the FT, an analytics officer who had raised concerns about Palantir’s Federal Data Platform (FDP) was told by a senior NHS official: “If you criticise the FDP one more time, you are going to lose your job.”
“I know I am not the only one inside the NHS who has been warned off criticising the tool publicly,” the analytics officer added.
In January 2024, Palantir announced a strategic partnership with the Israeli government to support “war-related missions”, meaning its tools are being used in a genocide. It also provides technology to immigration enforcement in the US, and founder Peter Thiel has provided financial backing to Donald Trump.
Citing ethical concerns, the British Medical Association (BMA) has instructed union members not to adopt Palantir’s Federal Data Platform.
In February, BMA chair Tom Dolphin told the British Medical Journal: “Given Palantir’s track record, including controversies in the US involving immigration enforcement and the risks to patient trust, data security, and NHS independence, we believe there must be a complete break from Palantir technologies in the NHS and no further contracts awarded.”
But staff told the FT that NHS organisations are under pressure to sign up voluntarily to the Palantir data system. Technicians working on alternative systems have been told to stop in their tracks.
“When letters go out saying, ‘Sign this or we’ll call your chief executive’, that doesn’t build goodwill,” said an analytics official. “It creates compliance, not commitment.”
Palantir boasts contracts across British public services, with its technology already embedded in the police and the military.
Last month, two anonymous Ministry of Defence officials told journalists at the Nerve that Palantir’s deepening knowledge of the British state poses “a national security threat to the UK”.
123 out of 205 NHS hospital trusts have already adopted Palantir’s data system.
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