Patient data concerns prompt North Yorkshire NHS scrutiny

The NHS’s use of controversial Palantir technology will be scrutinised by councillors after

The NHS’s use of controversial Palantir technology will be scrutinised by councillors after concerns were raised by residents and MPs.

North Yorkshire councillors will debate NHS Humber and North Yorkshire’s use of Palantir’s controversial data integration platform at a special scrutiny meeting next week.

It follows “serious concerns” that were raised by a resident at a North Yorkshire Council health scrutiny meeting in July over data privacy and patient rights, according to published minutes from the meeting.

MPs and local councillors opposed to the NHS’s use of US billionaire Peter Thiel’s ‘Foundry’ – which was awarded the contract to deliver the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) in November 2023 – have urged the Government to exercise the 2027 break clause with the company and either develop an in-house replacement or seek an alternative UK provider.

A cross-party parliamentary committee recently said Palantir shouldn’t play such a significant role in the UK public sector and stressed that it’s not the only company capable of providing the ‘middleware’ required by public bodies.

A health scrutiny committee on North Yorkshire Council may exercise its powers to “seek further evidence, clarification and explanation” when it meets on Friday, October 2.

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The committee said that further information would assist it in understanding the purpose and operation of the FDP, the governance arrangements surrounding its use, and the extent of its deployment locally.

A briefing was held in August 2026 for a cross-party group of senior councillors during which representatives of the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) outlined the ICB’s current use of the platform and responded to Members’ initial questions.

The briefing also confirmed that the Humber and North Yorkshire ICB is already using elements of the platform for operational coordination.

The NHS says the platform is designed to bring together information from existing systems to help manage waiting lists, hospital capacity and service planning.

“Members were advised that the ICB does not intend to upload patient, GP practice or primary care data to the FDP and is utilising elements of the platform primarily in support of operational system coordination functions.

“Discussion also highlighted that decisions regarding adoption of the FDP by NHS trusts rest with those organisations as independent data controllers,” a council report notes.

At next week’s meeting, councillors on the Scrutiny of Health Committee will consider whether further work is required and the timeline for further investigations.

The NHS Humber and North Yorkshire has said that while implementation is not being mandated, all trusts and ICBs are being asked to provide plans for how they will maximise the benefits of the NHS FDP for their patients.

It added: “Demand is high, so we are asking trusts to sign up so that we can schedule them into the overall delivery timeline.”

There has been a backlash against the national guidance, the British Medical Journal reported in April, with a coalition of human rights, health and patient organisations urging every hospital in England to disobey an NHS directive to use the software.